Home Office

Anti-social Behaviour: Vehicles

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help police forces reduce incidences of vehicular-assisted anti-social behaviour; and whether she plans to grant the police additional powers to tackle those incidences.

Chris Philp: Enforcement of road traffic law is an operational matter for the Chief Constable based on local policing priorities. We believe there are sufficient powers to address incidents of vehicular-assisted anti-social behaviour (ASB). Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 provides the police with the power to deal with ASB when a motor vehicle has caused, alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public. This includes the power to seize the vehicles. In addition, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to ASB. This includes Civil Injunctions and Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs). On 27 March 2023 the Government published the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan. The Plan commits to tackling ASB across five key themes: stronger punishment; making communities safer; building local pride; prevention and early intervention; and improving data, reporting and accountability for action. It is for local authorities, forces and agencies to decide how best to use these powers depending on the specific circumstances as they are best placed to understand what is causing the behaviour in question, the impact that it is having, and to determine the most appropriate response.

Home Office: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.

Chris Philp: The proportion of Home Office staff who have declared they have a disability is 12%.

Police: Evidence

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the rules on evidence retention within section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Chris Philp: Section 22 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 requires that, once seized, property be retained only for so long as is necessary. Specifically, items may only be retained for use as evidence at a trial, for forensic examination or for investigation in connection with an offence or to establish the rightful owner of the property. It is the responsibility of the officer in charge of the investigation to ensure that property is returned as soon as practicable.PACE Code of Practice C covers the seizure and retention of evidence found by police officers on persons or premises. We of course expect the police to comply with all relevant legislative requirements.There are no current plans to review the issue of evidence retention within section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. We will, however, keep such matters under consideration.

Visas: Applications

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for a visa application fee waiver from inside the UK were accepted in 2022.

Robert Jenrick: Data on what proportion of the people who qualified for visa fee waivers applied from inside the UK is not routinely available.Data is published on the GOV.UK website that lists the overall number of fee waiver applications that have been processed, resolved or remain pending a decision. The latest data can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2022, on tab FW_01.

Business: Fraud

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to allow businesses to share data for the purpose of tackling fraud.

Tom Tugendhat: The Government is working with industry to close the vulnerabilities in systems, processes and businesses that are exploited by fraudsters and ensure they have the necessary tools to protect themselves from fraudsters. This is why the Home Office will shortly be publishing a new strategy to address the threat of fraud.Reforms in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will also enable businesses to share information more easily for the purposes of preventing, investigating or detecting economic crime by disapplying civil liability for breaches of confidentiality for firms who share information to combat economic crime. This includes for the prevention of fraud. In parallel, reforms to GDPR via provisions in the Data Protection and Digital Identity Bill will provide a clearer legal basis for businesses sharing information for crime prevention purposes.

Asylum: Housing

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the projected cost of plans to house asylum seekers on a boat on the River Mersey at Wirral Waters.

Robert Jenrick: The United Kingdom has a legal obligation to provide asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute with accommodation and other support whilst their claim for asylum is being considered.Ongoing work across government is being undertaken to identify and secure more appropriate, cost-effective accommodation options. In exploring potential alternative large sites, we continue to consider all available options to source appropriate and cost-effective temporary accommodation, including the option of the usage of vessels. Considerations regarding design, usage and cost are ongoing.

Visas: Seasonal Workers

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to take steps to ensure that all actors and intermediaries recruiting workers for the seasonal workers scheme are licensed by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.

Robert Jenrick: It is a requirement to be licensed with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority at all times as a scheme operator on the Seasonal Worker immigration route. The operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms, and ensuring their welfare in the UK. This includes ethical recruitment practices, in line with Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority regulations.

Violent and Sex Offender Register

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using national insurance numbers to register sex offenders.

Chris Philp: Public protection is a priority for this Government and the notification requirements for registered sex offenders form an invaluable tool in the management of offenders within the community.Qualifying offenders are required to notify their personal details to the police. This system is often referred to as the ‘sex offenders’ register’ and requires offenders to provide the police with a record of their national insurance number, as well as other personal details such as their name, date of birth, and bank details. This must be done annually and whenever their details change.

Asylum: Interviews

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her department has taken to reduce the waiting time for people awaiting (a) a substantive interview and (b) an initial decision on their asylum claim.

Robert Jenrick: To further accelerate decision making we are driving productivity improvements by streamlining interviews, simplifying processes, and dealing with cases more swiftly where they are certified as clearly unfounded. We have already doubled our decision makers over the last 2 years, and we are continuing to recruit more. This will take our expected number of decision makers to 1,800 by summer and 2,500 by September 2023.

Visas: Seasonal Workers

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure the welfare of people using Seasonal Worker visas (a) at their point of recruitment in their countries of origin and (b) recruited through licenced scheme operators; and if she will take steps to provide additional welfare protections for people recruited through third party recruiters used by licenced scheme operators.

Robert Jenrick: The sponsor licence regime places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected.The UK government however has no legal jurisdiction to regulate recruitment taking place outside of the United Kingdom. Although the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has no remit to investigate labour abuse and exploitation in other countries, it nonetheless works through our Embassies to put relevant regulatory bodies in contact with their opposite numbers. We have made ongoing enhancements to the worker welfare protections throughout the lifetime of the Seasonal Work route and we are continuing to keep the route under close review.

Visas: Orchestras

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her Ukrainian counterpart on the refusal of visa to the Khmelnitsky Orchestra; and on what basis visas for that Orchestra were not granted.

Robert Jenrick: All of the Khmelnitsky Orchestra were issued their visas. Officials across the government endeavoured to ensure the Orchestra could enter the UK as soon as possible once they had submitted their applications, provided their biometrics and information required in support of their application. Applications are considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules with the responsibility on applicants to demonstrate they meet these rules to help avoid delays in processing. Musicians and performers are a valued and important part of UK culture and we are pleased that the Ukrainian musicians are now in the UK and the orchestra is able to perform in full.

Visas: Educational Visits

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to allow enabling school-children with non-EU passports who are travelling from the EU to the UK on school trips to enter the UK without the requirement to pay for a visa.

Robert Jenrick: All visitors are expected to hold a passport. Visit visas are required only for citizens of certain countries. The details of those countries are publicly available: UK visa requirements (publishing.service.gov.uk). At the summit in Paris on 10 March 2023 the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. We are currently considering the details and implications of implementing this commitment.

Undocumented Migrants

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on the number of undocumented people living in the UK without immigration status.

Robert Jenrick: We will publish an economic impact assessment in respect of the Bill in due course.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of people in the (a) Newcastle Central constituency and (b) UK who need to complete an asylum claim questionnaire, as at 17 April 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The exact number of asylum questionnaires awaiting completion and the constituency of the claimants they were sent to, is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Naturalisation: Applications

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the refund eligibility criteria for individuals who purchased the UKVCAS Super Priority Service but did not receive a decision on their visa application within 24 hours.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office’s published immigration and nationality refunds policy sets out the circumstances in which priority service fees will be refunded Immigration and nationality refunds policy (publishing.service.gov.uk).The circumstances in which a refund of the fee paid to expedite an application through the Super Priority service will be made include where the applicant has taken necessary steps to complete their application, but the application has not been processed within the published timescales. A partial refund of the difference between the Super Priority and Priority fee can be considered if an application goes on to be processed under the published timescales for the Priority service.

Police: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of police officers in the London Borough of Havering.

Chris Philp: The Government committed to recruiting 20,000 additional police officers across England and Wales, by 31 March 2023.We await the final data, however we remain confident we will have delivered this commitment by the end of March 2023. This will take us to over 148,400 officers across England and Wales, the highest number of officers on record in history.Through the police uplift, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has grown its officer workforce. When compared with its pre-Police uplift peak of 33,820 officers in March 2010, the MPS now has 35,160 officers as at 31 December 2022.Decisions on how to use police resources including officer deployment are operational matters for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners. In the case of the MPS, the Commissioner and the Mayor of London exercise these functions respectively.

Nitrous Oxide: Motor Sports

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her proposals to ban the use of nitrous oxide, what the exceptions will be for legal use of nitrous oxide; and whether those exceptions include motorsport.

Chris Philp: As stated in the Government’s response to the ACMD’s nitrous oxide review on 27 March, the Government agrees that given the widespread legitimate use of nitrous oxide, it is critical that we consult to understand how best to avoid over-burdening those who need it.We will shortly consult on controlling nitrous oxide and how best to protect people and communities from the harmful effects, while exempting legitimate uses to minimise any potential burden. We are already aware of legitimate uses in motorsport and we would encourage individuals and businesses involved in that sector to contribute their views to the consultation. The consultation will be available on Gov.uk.

Cars: Theft

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reported instances of car theft there have been in the London Borough of Havering in each of the last eight years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of ‘Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle’ offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, broken down by Community Safety Partnership area, on a quarterly basis.This includes the London Borough of Having and the latest figures can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Migrants: Personal Records

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of (a) the effectiveness of the share code system and (b) the adequacy of the IT system which supports it.

Robert Jenrick: We monitor the use of the online status services, including through user feedback, research, and testing. This feedback is used to inform improvements to the services. We also monitor usage volumes and user satisfaction scores for our online services, and publish them as part of the Home Office’s transparency data. Most users can generate and check share codes quickly and easily. If an individual is unable to provide a share code due to a technical issue, they can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre, which is open seven days a week for telephone and email enquiries.

Human Trafficking

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to introduce places of safety for people leaving immediate situations of exploitation before deciding whether to enter the National Referral Mechanism.

Miss Sarah Dines: Potential victims of modern slavery who have entered the NRM, and need emergency accommodation, particularly those who are vulnerable and are leaving immediate situations of exploitation, will receive accommodation support in line with the Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance. The Home Office is reviewing the policy options and commencement of places of safety.

Domestic Abuse

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that survivors of domestic abuse are supported to report that abuse to the police.

Miss Sarah Dines: Domestic abuse is a horrific crime and improving the response to domestic abuse is a key priority. That is why we introduced our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (the Act), which will provide further protections to the millions of people who experience domestic abuse and strengthen measures to bring perpetrators to justice, as well as transform the support we give to victims ensuring they have the protection they deserve.We expect police to treat all victims of domestic abuse with the sensitivity and compassion they deserve, which plays an important part in encouraging victims and survivors to report. Therefore, to strengthen the police response to domestic abuse and as part of our commitment in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan 2022 to support the development and further rollout of the Domestic Abuse Matters training, we have committed up to £3.3 million up to 2025 to bolster and encourage the uptake of this training in forces. We will beprioritising funding for those forces who have yet to undertake the training. As part of this commitment, we are also funding the development of a newmodule of the training that is targeted at officers investigating domestic abuse offences to enable further improvement in police responses to domesticabuse incidents.The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), also known as Clare’s Law enables the police to disclose information to a victim or potential victim of domestic abuse about their partner’s or ex-partner’s previous abusive or violent offending either following a request for information by a victim, potential victim or an associated third party or following the police being in receipt of information requiring a disclosure. We have recently commenced section 77 of the Act which places the guidance which underpins the DVDS into statute and published updated guidance ahead of this. This places a duty on the police to apply the guidance unless there is good reason not to and will strengthen the visibility and consistent operation of the scheme. The guidance also makes clear that safeguarding the victim or potential victim is, at all times, a priority.

Domestic Abuse: Animal Welfare

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential link between (a) animal abuse and (b) domestic violence; and if she will make a written statement.

Miss Sarah Dines: Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) including domestic abuse is a government priority. VAWG is an unacceptable, preventable issue which blights the lives of millions.Our Domestic Abuse Act became law in April 2021. This is a truly game changing piece of legislation which transforms our response to victims in every region in England and Wales and ensures perpetrators can be brought to justice. The Act also expands the definition of controlling or coercive behaviour to victims who do not live with their abuser. Domestic abuse can affect all parts of a victim’s life and relationships including, for example, through threats and harm to pets. In July 2022 we published statutory guidance to accompany the legislation and to provide explanation of the different characteristics of domestic abuse, which includes reference to how pets may be used by perpetrators. During the passage of the then Domestic Abuse Bill, Dogs Trust submitted written evidence highlighting that available research indicates a link between abuse to pets and abuse to people in the context of domestic abuse, for example they carried out a survey of domestic abuse professionals which found that 49% of them had been aware of cases where pets had been killed. The Government is also committed to animal welfare. Whilst the Government has not made a formal assessment of existing research into the link between those who commit domestic abuse offences and those who commit animal welfare offences, as a reflection of the seriousness with which we take cruelty against our animals we supported the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act which received royal assent in April 2022.

LGBT+ People: Kenya

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing routes for the resettlement of LGBTI people from Kenya in the UK; and whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure the safety of those people.

Robert Jenrick: The UK has a proud history of supporting refugees. Since 2015, we have offered a place to just under half a million individuals seeking safety.Whilst the UK has made a generous resettlement offer, with worldwide displacement now standing at around 100 million people, we are unable to make routes available for every eventuality.The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through existing resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Resettlement Scheme, and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).Referrals for the UKRS, Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement and are assessed and submitted by UNHCR. These assessments are based on people’s needs and vulnerabilities and the UK does not seek to influence which cases are referred by UNHCR.

Department of Health and Social Care

Members: Correspondence

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to reply to correspondence from the hon. Member for Manchester Gorton dated 21 February 2023, reference AK54612.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letters of 1 February and 8 March 2023 from the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood on the draft Mental Health Bill, with reference ZA49048.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Dental Services: Greater London

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce NHS dentist waiting lists in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) London.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Disability: Debt Collection

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the mental health impact of using bailiffs to recover arrears of non-residential charges from people with disabilities.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Autism: Diagnosis

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for an autism assessment for adults in (a) Stockport constituency, (b) Stockport Borough, (c) Greater Manchester and (d) England.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Surveys

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the Office for National Statistics’ surveillance of covid-19 infection rates has been paused.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travellers: NHS

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when Gypsy, Roma and Traveller groups will be added to the NHS Data Dictionary.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hospital Beds: Private Sector

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospital beds were set aside for private patients in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and c) 2021-22 for each NHS Foundation Trust.

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what earnings did NHS hospitals receive from private patients in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22 in each NHS Foundation Trust.

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much uncollectible debt from private patients was written off by NHS Foundation trusts in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22.

Will Quince: The information requested is not held centrally.

Dental Services: Staff

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 17 April 2023 to Questions (a) 177802 and (b) 177804 on Dental Services: Staff, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of directly employing all dental support staff working in (i) dental surgeries and (ii) the dental sector through the NHS.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Diabetes

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce cases of type 2 diabetes.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Smoking

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to The Khan Review: Making Smoking Obsolete published 9 June 2022, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing any of the outstanding recommendations in that review.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Smoking

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what modelling his Department has conducted to estimate that England will reach a smoking prevalence rate of 5 per cent by 2030.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS Resolution

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department issues guidance on (a) criteria and (b) legal cost thresholds for NHS Resolution involvement in clinical negligence claims; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS Resolution

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on involvement by NHS Resolution in cases in which claimants have commenced legal action against the NHS in the courts.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS Resolution

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in what circumstances NHS Resolution becomes involved in a legal case being undertaken by a patient against the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Drug Resistance

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential impact on (a) antimicrobial resistance and (b) the effectiveness of antibiotics used to treat human illnesses of a ban on the preventative use of antibiotics on healthy farm animals.

Maria Caulfield: The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’. Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate meet regularly to consider appropriate actions to address AMR across the human and animal health sectors. This has included discussion on the preventative use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals and a consultation on proposed changes to Veterinary Medicines Regulations.

Coronavirus: Surveys

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact the decision to pause Office for National Statistics surveillance of covid-19 infection rates on immunocompromised people who use that data to determine which precautionstotake.

Maria Caulfield: The UK Health Security Agency will continue to publish regular reports on COVID-19, including weekly surveillance reports, which provide data on infection rates and hospitalisation numbers. UKHSA also maintains the ability to track the latest variants through their genomics capabilities which assess the risks posed by different strains of the virus. We will continue to communicate to people most vulnerable to COVID-19 about available clinical interventions, including vaccination and treatments, as well as testing and public health advice.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequate provision for patients of Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Maria Caulfield: We have accepted and are taking forward the recommendations of the HRT Supply Taskforce, which was temporarily established to explore what could be done to address hormone replacement therapy (HRT) supply issues in the short and long-term. A key recommendation was to continue the dialogue with industry and we are doing that through regular meetings with individual suppliers as well as holding quarterly roundtables with manufacturers, wholesalers and community pharmacist representatives to monitor progress and agree what more needs to be done to boost production.Access to high-demand products improved since actions have been taken by industry with our support as well as the issuance of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) for some HRT products facing supply issues to limit dispensing to three months’ supply to even out distribution and allow specified alternative products to be supplied, as necessary.21 SSPs for HRT products have been issued since April 2022. The majority of these have been withdrawn as supply issues have been resolved and only five SSPs remain in place.

Brain: Tumours

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of 9 March 2023 by the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care, Official Report, column 510, when he plans to meet the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden and senior clinicians.

Will Quince: I am due to meet with the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden and senior clinicians in the very near future.

Autism and Learning Disability: Care Homes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people with (a) autism, (b) learning difficulties and (c) mental health challenges who are placed in residential provision out of area; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that placements are local.

Maria Caulfield: No estimate has been made. Under the Care Act, local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care and support needs of their local population. Care Quality Commission assessments of local authorities’ delivery of their Care Act duties, which went live from 1 April 2023, will examine how well local authorities work with local people to understand their needs, and the extent to which this leads to local populations having access to a diverse range of high quality, sustainable, person-centred care and support services that meet their needs.

Health Services: Children

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce elective procedure backlogs in child health services.

Will Quince: In February 2022, the National Health Service published a delivery plan setting out a clear vision for how the NHS will recover and reduce waiting times for elective services, including treatment for children and young people.To support this recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems in 2021/22 to help drive up and protect elective activity.Steps being taken include increasing capacity, seeking alternative capacity in other trusts or the independent sector, and engaging with patients to understand their choices. Having virtually met our target to eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July, we have also made significant progress in tackling waits of 78 weeks or more for elective services including child health services.NHS England will soon publish statistics that demonstrate what has been achieved to date.

Autism and Learning Disability: Care Homes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all local authorities assess the placement needs of its locality for people who require residential care provision for people with autism, learning difficulties and/or mental health challenges.

Maria Caulfield: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care and support needs of their local population. Local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to ensure a diverse range of high quality, sustainable, person-centred care and support services are available. The ‘People at the Heart of Care: adult social care reform white paper’ set out a new ambition for market shaping which is centred around understanding what people with lived experience want from care and support, building on existing community assets and working in a more collaborative and integrated way. The Health and Care Act 2022 places a new duty on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess the performance of local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties under the Care Act 2014. This duty commenced on 1 April 2023. CQC assessment will increase transparency and accountability, allowing the public and the government to better understand how well local authorities are delivering their adult social care services. Under the Care Act, local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care and support needs of their local population. CQC assessments will examine how well local authorities work with local people to understand what they want from care and support, and the extent to which this leads to local populations having access to a diverse range of high quality, sustainable, person-centred care and support services that meet their needs. Local authorities assessment will make good practice, positive outcomes and outstanding quality easier to spot locally and share nationally, while also identifying where improvement and additional support is needed. This will drive innovation and improvement across the sector, benefitting those who draw on care and support.

Health Services: Children and Young People

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce treatment waiting times for children and young people.

Will Quince: In February 2022, the National Health Service published a delivery plan setting out a clear vision for how the NHS will recover and reduce waiting times for elective services including treatment for children and young people. The steps being taken include increasing capacity, seeking alternate capacity in other trusts or the independent sector, and engaging with patients to understand their choices.To support this recovery the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, and an additional £5.9 billion investment in capital for new beds, equipment and technology.Additionally, the NHS Long Term plan commits to increase investment into mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. Part of this increased investment will enable an additional 345,000 children and young people to access NHS funded mental health support.In September 2022 we also announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including access for children and young people.

Members: Correspondence

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter sent by the hon. Member for St Albans on 16 November 2022, and subsequently resent on 20 January and 20 March 2023, reference DC5119.

Maria Caulfield: I replied to the hon. Member on 17 April 2023.

Smoking

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what modelling his Department has carried out to assess the potential impact of its swap to stop policy on the Government's ability to achieve its smoke free 2030 target.

Neil O'Brien: Modelling for our Swap to Stop policy has to date been based on effective pilot schemes across the country. For example, in Salford a pilot successfully engaged with over 1,000 smokers, many of whom were from the most deprived communities. Of those smokers who remained engaged in the four-week scheme, 62% were recorded as having successfully quit, by means of carbon monoxide verification. This is a fourfold increase in the number of successful quitters compared to the equivalent period the year before, when the scheme had not been in operation. As announced on 11 April 2023, our vision for the new national Swap to Stop scheme is to offer a million smokers a free vaping kit alongside expert behavioural support. The impact of the scheme on our Smokefree 2030 ambition will be further modelled following the completion of the first wave of the programme in the coming months.

Dental Services: Expenditure

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on in-patient NHS dental treatment for (a) children and (b) adults in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not collected.

Police Custody and Prisoners: Mental Illness

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people who have been detained in (a) prison or (b) a police cell due to not being assessed by a mental health crisis team under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Development Aid: Vaccination

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many surplus vaccine doses were shared with poorer countries in 2022; and if he will provide a breakdown of that provision by country.

Maria Caulfield: As of April 2023, we have donated more than 85 million vaccines to over 40 countries in need and offered over 100 million.The following less-developed countries have requested and received donated doses either bilaterally or via COVAX to date:- Afghanistan;- Angola;- Bangladesh;- Cambodia;- Chad;- the Democratic Republic of Congo;- Djibouti;- Ethiopia;- Laos;- Malawi;- Myanmar;- Nepal;- Niger;- Rwanda;- Senegal;- Somalia;- Sudan;- Tanzania;- Uganda;- Yemen; and- Zambia.The following countries also requested and received donations:- Antiqua and Barbuda;- Armenia;- Belize;- Cote D’Ivoire;- Dominica;- Egypt;- Ghana;- Grenada;- Guyana;- Indonesia;- Jamaica;- Kenya;- Mauritius;- Malaysia;- Namibia;- Nigeria;- Pakistan;- the Philippines;- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;- St Lucia;- Thailand;- Ukraine; and- Vietnam.We are unable to provide a breakdown by year or country as this information is commercially sensitive.

Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Special Health Authority

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of hosting the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Special Health Authority function within the Care Quality Commission on patient safety.

Maria Caulfield: We have considered the impact of the hosting of the Maternity Investigations Programme within the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carefully and we believe that they can continue their existing work as part of the CQC. The CQC has the existing infrastructure available to allow for continuity of investigations independent from the National Health Service. The continuity of the maternity programme will be maintained throughout the duration of the process.

Autism

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many autism diagnoses there were in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Enfield in each of the last five years.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time was to diagnose autism in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Enfield in each of the last five years.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time between being diagnosed with autism and receiving an official diagnostic report was in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Enfield in each of the last five years.

Maria Caulfield: The data requested is not held centrally. However, some relevant information can be drawn from the Mental Health Service Data Set (MHSDS). The data only represents a partial picture of the numbers of people with an autism diagnosis and of waiting times. The following table indicates the number of people in contact with mental health services with a new autism diagnosis for the past four years in England, London, and Enfield. Reporting Period StartReporting Period EndGeographic LevelGeographic NameNumber of people with a new autism diagnosis in the reporting period.August 2018July 2019EnglandEngland11,310August 2019July 2020EnglandEngland11,728August 2020July 2021EnglandEngland12,072August 2021July 2022EnglandEngland15,107August 2018July 2019Local AuthorityLondon2,185August 2019July 2020Local AuthorityLondon2,305August 2020July 2021Local AuthorityLondon2,375August 2021July 2022Local AuthorityLondon3,060August 2018July 2019Local AuthorityEnfield5August 2019July 2020Local AuthorityEnfield15August 2020July 2021Local AuthorityEnfield15August 2021July 2022Local AuthorityEnfield15 Additionally, the attached table summarises information for autistic people in contact with mental health services for the past four years in England, London, and Enfield.We recognise that a lot of autism assessments for children are reported through the Community Services Data Set (CSDS), however it is not currently possible to correctly identify referrals for suspected autism in the CSDS and so we are unable to provide average wait times for this activity. Therefore, the current reported autism data comes from the MHSDS only.Autism referrals in England, London & Enfield (docx, 20.6KB)

Menopause: Screening

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms and their management are covered in the NHS Health Check.

Maria Caulfield: Menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms and their management are not currently covered in the NHS Health Check.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to improve processing times for claims for compensation for injuries caused by the Covid vaccine.

Maria Caulfield: While the Government does not provide compensation for COVID-19 vaccines, steps are being taken to continuously improve processing times for claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, working with the NHS Business Services Authority which administers the scheme.Improvements to date include digitising the application process and increasing the number of administration staff from four to 80, allowing for named case managers who can provide updates on progress to claimants.

Antimicrobials: Health Hazards

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the level of risk to human health of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs originating from industrial farms.

Maria Caulfield: Resistant bacteria and/or resistance genes can transfer between people and animals in both directions. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate conducts two surveillance schemes for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in animals, including regular monitoring of AMR in major food-producing species: pigs and poultry. The results of these surveillance schemes are published annually in the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales and Surveillance Report, which can be found at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1126450/FOR_PUBLICATION_-_UK-VARSS_2021_Main_Report__Final_v3_-accessible.pdfSince 2014, the United Kingdom has reduced sales of veterinary antibiotics by 55%, and over this same period the UK has seen an overall trend of decreasing AMR in bacteria from animals. The UK has a cross-Government contingency plan to mitigate the risk to public health of resistant bacteria found in animals, which can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resistant-bacteria-from-animals-of-possible-risk-contingency-plan/response-to-the-identification-from-an-animal-of-a-resistant-bacterial-isolate-of-risk-to-human-or-animal-health-contingency-plan

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism: Diagnosis

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for young people waiting for an (a) ADHD and (b) Autism diagnosis; and what recent discussions he has had with healthcare professionals on this.

Maria Caulfield: My Rt hon. Friend, The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, regularly discusses a range of matters with healthcare professionals. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including assessments and diagnosis for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism. ICBs and NHS trusts should have due regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management; Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: support and management’ and ‘Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management’. These NICE guidelines aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD and autism and the quality of care and support that people receive. In 2022/23 we invested £2.5 million to test and embed improved autism diagnostic pathways. In 2023/24 there is funding of £4.2 million to improve services for autistic children and young people, including, to continue to transform and develop autism assessment and diagnosis services and pre- and post-diagnostic support to children and young people aged zero to 25 years old and continuation of the ‘Autism in Schools’ programme. On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. These documents are intended to help the National Health Service and local authorities improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for adults and children who are going through an autism assessment. The Department is looking into options for improving data collection and reporting on waiting times for ADHD assessments and diagnosis.

Sodium Valproate: Compensation

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on discussions with the Patient Safety Commissioner on the costings for compensation for people who have been harmed by Valproate.

Maria Caulfield: Our sympathies remain with all those affected by the side effects of sodium valproate. Patient safety is a priority, and we are taking a range of action to improve the future safety of medicines and medical devices, setting high standards for industry to market and manufacture products, with the aim of reducing harm in the future. The Department has asked the Patient Safety Commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes, to undertake work on redress for people harmed by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Patient Safety Commissioner will publish a report setting out the findings from this work. Once finalised, Ministers will consider the report’s findings before deciding how to proceed on this matter.

Social Services: Finance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of changes in the level of social care workforce train and retain funding on the number of social care vacancies.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of changes in the level of social care workforce train and retain funding on charitable and not-for-profit providers.

Helen Whately: No assessments have been made.

Podiatry: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the average waiting time for podiatry appointments in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) Stockport Borough.

Helen Whately: The following table shows a count of first attended outpatient appointments relating to podiatry, for patients resident in Stockport Constituency and Stockport Borough, showing mean and median waiting times, for 2018/19 to 2022/23. 2022-23 data to February 2023 is provisional.Stockport Constituency YearAppointmentsMedian Wait (Days)Mean Wait (Days)2018/193026382019/203026592020/211012322021/221527852022/23202240Stockport Borough Year   2018/1913526472019/2012023872020/2165201022021/227021852022/23953255Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS England

Social Services: Career Development

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure sufficient opportunities for career progression and development in the social care sector.

Helen Whately: On 4 April 2023, we published our plans for investing £250 million on workforce reforms to improve career progression and access to learning and development opportunities.

Care Homes

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) care homes and (b) residents of care homes there were in April 2020.

Helen Whately: As of 1 April 2020, there were 15,517 active care home locations registered with Care Quality Commission. Whilst the Department does not have an exact number of residents in care homes in April 2020, we would expect the number to be similar to the Office for National Statistics estimate of 391,927 care home residents in England in 2019/20.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital: Cancer

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the waiting time for appointments at the oncology department of Shrewsbury Royal Hospital.

Helen Whately: No specific assessment has been made.

Social Services: Finance

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to make funding available to local authorities to increase the rates paid to social care providers in order to help reduce waiting times for social care.

Helen Whately: The Government has provided a historic funding boost of up to £7.5 billion for adult social care. This includes the £562 million Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund which provides local authorities with funding to support social care in their areas. This funding is to be used by local authorities to increase fee rates, to increase workforce capacity and to reduce social care waiting times.

Breast Cancer: Medical Treatments

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the NHS has flexible and effective procedures for identifying the correct treatments for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Helen Whately: People with breast cancer are cared for by a team of healthcare professionals, each with their own expertise. This is known as the multidisciplinary team (MDT). Each MDT should include the full range of health professionals required to best inform and plan the most appropriate treatment options for the patient including for those patients with metastatic breast cancer. This would include appropriate surgeons, oncologists and clinicians from a wide range of other disciplines including nursing, radiology and pathology.NHS England expects treating clinicians will consider all available treatment options, taking account of relevant clinical and professional guidelines and the individual needs of the patient. In all cases, discussions about treatment options should take place in line with the General Medical Council’s Decision Making and Consent Guidance to ensure that people can make an informed choice about their treatment.

Breast Cancer: Health Services

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that all patients with primary breast cancer have an end of treatment summary in order to speed up detection of secondary breast cancer.

Helen Whately: The NHS Long Term Plan states that, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including a needs assessment, a care plan and health and wellbeing information and support. This includes provision of end of treatment summaries, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer.The introduction of tailored follow up pathways for people after their initial breast cancer treatment has ensured there are clear access points for people with worrying symptoms or concerns to speak immediately to someone in the cancer team. Breast cancer-tailored follow up, which includes ‘patient initiated follow up’ or ‘open access follow up’ for suitable patients, is now in place in 95% of trusts.

Halton Haven Hospice: Energy

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of rises in (a) energy costs and (b) inflation on Halton Haven hospice.

Helen Whately: We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

Care Homes: Death

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths there were in care homes in April 2020 that (a) received transfers and (b) did not receive transfers from NHS Hospitals.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

Arthritis: Health Services

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support NHS Trusts to (a) manage patient pathways and (b) track patient outcomes for people living with rheumatic conditions.

Helen Whately: General rheumatology services are all locally commissioned by integrated care boards who are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

Prostate Cancer: Chemotherapy

Nick Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to help increase chemotherapy capacity for prostate cancer patients in (a) the UK and (b) each integrated care system.

Helen Whately: NHS England has set a target for systems to increase cancer treatment capacity by 13%, with the aim of further reducing cancer waiting lists. The latest statistics for February 2023 show that 98.04% of National Health Service patients have received their subsequent chemotherapy treatment within 31 days, against a target of 98%.

Coeliac Disease

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with Integrated Care Boards on (a) the impact of increases in the cost of living on people diagnosed with coeliac disease and (b) gluten free prescribing for people diagnosed with coeliac disease.

Helen Whately: No specific discussions have been had. The majority of services for patients with coeliac disease are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, who are best placed to plan the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and funding.A range of gluten free staples are available on prescription. Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for those with the greatest need.

Warm Home Prescription

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Warm Home Prescription pilots; and whether he will take steps to extend the scheme to kidney patients receiving home dialysis.

Helen Whately: Warm Home Prescription pilots have been undertaken in several local areas, delivered by the Energy Systems Catapult working with the National Health Service and other local partners. An initial pilot study from 2021/22 was reported as delivering increased indoor temperatures for a number of vulnerable households over the winter. Eligibility for these schemes is determined locally.

Community Diagnostic Centres

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of all NHS diagnostic activity took place in Community Diagnostic Centres in each month of the last financial year for which figures are available.

Helen Whately: This information is not held.

Surgical Hubs

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2023 to Question 162208 on Surgical Hubs, how many surgical hubs will be operational in 2024-25.

Will Quince: There are currently 87 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England, these surgical hubs will help separate elective care facilities from urgent and emergency care.57 new surgical hubs have been proposed, of which 37 have received an NHS England approved business case, announced in February 2023.Details of any new operational surgical hubs will be announced as soon as practicable.

Health Services: Children and Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for elective procedures relating to children and young people.

Will Quince: In February 2022, the National Health Service published a delivery plan setting out a clear vision for how the NHS will recover and reduce waiting times for elective services including treatment for children and young people.To support this recovery the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems in 2021/22 to help drive up and protect elective activity.Steps being taken include increasing capacity, seeking alternate capacity in other trusts or the independent sector and engaging with patients to understand their choices.Having virtually met our target to eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July, we have also made significant progress in tackling waits of 78 weeks or more for elective services including child health services.NHS England will soon publish statistics that demonstrate what has been achieved to date.

Hospitals: Private Sector

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of all NHS hospitals which treat private patients.

Will Quince: The information requested is not held centrally.

Dermatology: Consultants

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many consultant dermatologists there are in (a) Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, (b) the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board area and (c) England.

Will Quince: The table below provides the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) National Health Service consultant doctors working in the specialty of dermatology as of December 2022.OrganisationFTE DoctorsLiverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust12Cheshire and Merseyside ICB area34England667Source: NHS England Workforce Statistics

Breast Cancer: Drugs

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Scottish Medicines Consortium collaborate effectively on drug approvals for metastatic breast cancer treatment.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is committed to publishing draft recommendations on all newly licensed treatments around the time of licensing in England and works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to ensure that licensing procedures and health technology assessments are as streamlined as possible.Both NICE and the Scottish Medicines Consortium are permanent partners in the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway which supports more rapid review and approval of promising new cancer treatments.NICE is an England-only body. Health is a devolved matter and as such decisions on access to drugs in Scotland is a matter for the devolved Government.

Brain: Tumours

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to respond to the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours entitled Pathway to a Cure – breaking down the barriers, published in February 2023.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care welcomes the All-Party Parliamentary Group investigation and will consider the detailed recommendations, which will be worked through with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as well as UK Research and Innovation and the Medical Research Council, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including brain tumours. As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research spend in a particular area, is driven by factors including scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications.

Mental Health Services: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the responsiveness of crisis teams in mental health services; and if he will set national standards for that responsiveness.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made. As part of its clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards, NHS England published the outcomes of its consultation on the potential to introduce five new access and waiting time standards for mental health services in February 2022. Two of these relate to community-based mental health crisis services, including: an ‘urgent’ referral to a community based mental health crisis service, for which a patient should be seen within 24 hours from referral, across all ages; and a ‘very urgent’ referral to a community based mental health crisis service, for which a patient should be seen within four hours from referral, for all age groups. As a first step, NHS England has shared and promoted guidance with its local system partners to consistently report waiting times to support the development of a baseline position.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Coronavirus

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are eligible for the spring covid-19 booster.

Maria Caulfield: The Government continues to be guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on who should be offered COVID-19 vaccinations. The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, hospitalisation and mortality. Older persons, residents in care homes for older adults, and those who are immunosuppressed continue to be at highest risk of severe COVID-19.As a precautionary measure, the JCVI has recommended that an extra booster vaccine dose should be offered in spring 2023 to adults 75 years old and over, residents in a care home for older adults and individuals five years old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in the COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) green book.Individuals with ME/CFS are not eligible for the COVID-19 spring 2023 booster vaccination unless they meet the criteria for one or more of the groups listed in addition to having ME/CFS.The JCVI regularly reviews its advice in relation to the COVID-19 vaccination programme, considering new data, evidence on the effectiveness of the programme and the epidemiological situation.

UK Menopause Task Force

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the menopause taskforce last met.

Maria Caulfield: The Menopause Taskforce last met on 7 June 2022.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Shortages

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on tackling hormonal replacement therapy shortages.

Maria Caulfield: We have accepted and are taking forward the recommendations of the HRT Supply Taskforce, which was temporarily established to explore what could be done to address hormone replacement therapy (HRT) supply issues in the short and long-term. A key recommendation was to continue the dialogue with industry and we are doing that through regular meetings with individual suppliers as well as holding quarterly roundtables with manufacturers, wholesalers and community pharmacist representatives to monitor progress and agree what more needs to be done to boost production.Access to high-demand products has improved since actions have been taken by industry with our support, as well as the issuance of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) for some HRT products facing supply issues, to limit dispensing to three months’ supply to even out distribution and allow specified alternative products to be supplied, as necessary.21 SSPs for HRT products have been issued since April 2022. The majority of these have been withdrawn as supply issues have been resolved, and only five SSPs remain in place.

Department for Business and Trade

Iron and Steel

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has been made of the (a) impact of potential severe disruption in the global supply chain for steel on the economy and (b) importance of the UK steel industry to the UK's economic security.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We actively monitor global trade in steel and potential risks to supply chains, and we are fully aware of the difficult conditions and structural overcapacity that are currently facing the global steel industry. Along with considering a wide range of data on international markets, we are active participants in a number of international fora, that are focused on ensuring consistent and secure supplies of steel. This includes the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Steel Committee and the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity. Steel is a fundamental material across a wide range of manufacturing and construction sectors. The Government recognises the vital role the UK steel sector provides in the UK economy.

Clean Steel Fund

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her timeframe is for the establishment of the Clean Steel Fund; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what consultation her Department has undertaken with businesses and trade bodies on the establishment of the Clean Steel Fund.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government recognises the vital role that the steel sector plays across the UK economy. We will continue to work with the sector to support its decarbonisation efforts and we have already established various funding schemes such as the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) and the Industrial Decarbonisation and Hydrogen Revenue Support (IDHRS) in this regard. A decision on the Clean Steel Fund has not yet been taken as we are continuing to work with the sector to understand its decarbonisation investment plans.

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on the competitiveness of UK-based businesses.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We have published an overall impact assessment for the Bill which is available on gov.uk. Going forwards, departments will identify how they will reform their REUL using the powers in the Bill. In doing so they will conduct proportionate analysis of any economic impacts, and where relevant this will include the impact on the competitiveness of UK businesses.The Government remains committed to engaging with stakeholders to ensure policy decisions are well informed and result in benefits for UK businesses and the wider population

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on costs for businesses.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We have published an overall impact assessment for the Bill which is available on gov.uk. Going forwards, departments will identify how they will reform their REUL using the powers in the Bill. In doing so they will conduct proportionate analysis of any economic impacts, including the impact on costs for businesses. The Government remains committed to engaging with stakeholders to ensure policy decisions are well informed and result in benefits for UK businesses and the wider population.

Minimum Wage: Young People

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that the minimum wage for workers aged between 16 and 18 reflects the level of inflation.

Kevin Hollinrake: On 1 April 2023, workers under 18 saw a 9.7% increase in their National Minimum Wage rate to £5.28. The Government aims to increase the National Minimum Wage as much as possible without damaging employment prospects for younger workers. By seeking expert and independent advice from the Low Pay Commission when setting the minimum wage rates, the Government is able to ensure that the right balance is struck between the needs of workers, the affordability for businesses and the impact on the economy.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many complaints were made by people living in service family accommodation about the performance of (a) Pinnacle, (b) Amey and (c) VIVO regarding the management of those properties in each month since April 2022.

Alex Chalk: Once Ministry of Defence officials have finalised collation of the necessary information I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Falkland Islands: Armed Conflict

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has indefinitely retained any documents related to (a) the Falklands War and (b) the attack on RFA Sir Galahad which are deemed to be of a nature that would be prejudicial to national security, defence or international relations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Dr Andrew Murrison: All records are reviewed as part of the Public Records Act (PRA) and may be retained for a variety of reasons.I can confirm that records relating to the Falklands conflict have been retained under Section 26 (National Defence) and Section 27 (international relations).The records concerning RFA Sir Galahad have been reviewed under both the PRA and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and retained under Sections 40 (Personal Information) and 41 (Information Provided in Confidence) until the year 2065.

Bickleigh Barracks: Heating and Water Supply

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the maintenance issues related to heating and hot water reported at Bickleigh Barracks since April 2022 resulted in a lack of hot water for 24 hours and more.

Alex Chalk: During the last six months, there were two separate incidents of partial hot water loss that lasted for more than 24 hours at Bickleigh Barracks; one for six days and another for five days. A capacity issue, created by a faulty pump, meant that hot water was not regenerated quickly enough if the demand for showers was high. This partial loss impacted one of the nine accommodation buildings. During the last six months there were no incidents of a heating outage that lasted for more than 24 hours at Bickleigh Barracks.

Bickleigh Barracks: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to Bickleigh Barracks for maintenance issues on (a) roofing, (b) heating, (c) electrics and (d) pest control in the last year.

Alex Chalk: The table below reflects the total number of individual tasks raised for Bickleigh Barracks which relate to Roofing, Heating, Electrical and Pest Control issues between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023. There are no Service Family Accommodation properties at Bickleigh Barracks. Asset TypeRoofingHeatingHeating and Hot WaterElectricalElectrical (Catering Equipment)Pest ControlTotalSingle Living Accommodation6542315457Mess with Integral Accommodation31110230349Other Assets (25 non-Accommodation buildings)1327772117137Total2143211182614243 137 out of the total 243 incidents occurred in non-accommodation buildings. The remaining 106 reported faults occurred across a total of nine buildings. Roofing issues ranged from minor damage such as missing tiles, faulty guttering or damaged felt, to major repairs and roof replacement. Some callouts for heating were as minor as a leaking radiator valve, up to full heating failure. Electrical issues ranged from damaged plug sockets to power outages.

Bickleigh Barracks: Heating and Water Supply

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many days has Bickleigh Barracks been without (a) hot water and (b) heating in the last six months.

Alex Chalk: During the last six months, there were two separate incidents of partial hot water loss that lasted for more than 24 hours at Bickleigh Barracks; one for six days and another for five days. A capacity issue, created by a faulty pump, meant that hot water was not regenerated quickly enough if the demand for showers was high. This partial loss impacted one of the nine accommodation buildings. During the last six months there were no incidents of a heating outage that lasted for more than 24 hours at Bickleigh Barracks.

Defence: Inflation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2022 to Question 23405 on Defence: Finance, whether his estimate of defence inflation for 2021-22 is greater than 2020-21.

Alex Chalk: Defence inflation for financial year 2021-22 was estimated as 2.1% which is lower than the estimate for 2020-21, which was 4.1%.

Defence: Inflation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2022 to Question 23405 on Defence: Finance, what his most recent estimate of defence inflation is.

Alex Chalk: The most recent estimate for defence inflation is for financial year 2021-22, which has been estimated as 2.1%.

Defence: Inflation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the level of defence inflation between 2021 and 2022.

Alex Chalk: In financial year 2020-21 defence inflation was estimated as 4.1%. In 2021-22, defence inflation was estimated as 2.1%. Defence inflation is calculated by financial year instead of calendar year.

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Special-to-Type complaints were made relating to (a) housing, (b) pay and (c) healthcare and medical treatment since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will exhibit at the Meet the Buyer event in Edinburgh on 17 May.

Alex Chalk: Due to resource constraints, the Ministry of Defence will not be exhibiting at this particular event. Our Doing Business With Defence Team regularly present at various regional and national trade events and meet the buyer events across the United Kingdom as part of the Department's outreach strategy.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 146780 on Armed Forces: Housing, whether the summary of data covering performance under the current accommodation contracts between October - December 2022 will include a full list of the contractors’ KPIs.

Alex Chalk: A full list of summary data of performance against all contractors’ KPIs will not be published. As is standard practice for major Government contracts, four Gold Key Performance Indicators (KPI)s, selected in accordance with Cabinet Office criteria, will be published on 27 April 2023 for each of the FDIS Accommodation contracts. For the National Accommodation Management Services Contract (Pinnacle), these are Application Completions, Allocation satisfaction including Move-in and Move-out satisfaction, Resolution of Stage 1 complaints and social value. For the Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services Contracts (VIVO and Amey) these are Right First Time, Homes Prepared to Meet the Move-In Standard, Customer Satisfaction and Social Value.

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 166164 on Government Departments: Staff, how many and what proportion of respondents to the most recent Leesman office survey undertaken by his Department (a) agreed and (b) disagreed with the statements about their main workplace that (i) it enables me to work productively, (ii) it supports me sharing ideas and knowledge amongst colleagues, (iii) it creates an enjoyable environment to work in, (iv) it contributes to a sense of community at work, and (v) it's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The most recent Leesman office survey by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) was conducted in September 2022, covering staff based in Manchester. In total, 59 MOD personnel participated, but of these, only 52 responded to the specified statements. The number and percentage of these respondents that answered either agree or disagree with the statements listed is set out in the table below: QuestionNumber and Percentage of Respondents Agree (Figures are aggregate by response of Strongly Agree, Agree or Slightly Agree)Number and Percentage of Respondents Disagree (Figures are aggregate by response of Strongly Disagree, Disagree or Slightly Disagree)(i) it enables me to work productively31 [60%]9 [17%](ii) it supports me sharing ideas and knowledge amongst colleagues40 [77%]5 [10%](iii) it creates an enjoyable environment to work in34 [65%]8 [15%](iv) it contributes to a sense of community at work33 [63%]7 [13%](v) it's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to27 [52%]8 [15%] The survey also included a neutral category where respondents neither agreed nor disagreed with the statements. For this reason, the percentage figures in the table do not add up to 100%.

Armed Forces Families Fund

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to objective 5.3 of the Armed Forces Families Plan 2022, published on 23 April 2022, what recent estimate he has made of when the early learning and childcare fund will be delivered.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to objective 5.4 of the Armed Forces Families Plan 2022, published on 23 April 2022, when his Department plans to create an early years provider network; and what budget will be allocated to it.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to objective 5.5 of the Armed Forces Families Plan 2022, published on 23 April 2022, when his Department plans to establish the MOD Local Authority Partnership for Early Years.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to objective 5.7 of the Armed Forces Families Plan 2022, published on 23 April 2022, whether he has made an assessment of the specific issues faced with obtaining childcare during periods of deployment.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to objective 1.1 of the Armed Forces Families Plan 2022, published on 23 April 2022, what steps his Department has taken to provide support for carers since January 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK Armed Forces Families Strategy: one year on, published on 13 April 2023, when he plans to publish the carers statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Early Learning and Childcare Fund (ELCF) has been replaced by a specific funding stream of the Armed Forces Families Fund which amalgamated the ELCF and the Education Support Fund. The Fund is administered on behalf of Defence by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust and the childcare funding stream accepted applications up until Monday 5 December 2022 for financial year 2022-23. The launch of the scheme for this financial year is likely to take place in the early autumn 2023 The Early Years Practitioner Network is in its early phase of existence but has a growing membership. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides coordination resource through a dedicated early learning and childcare officer. The MOD Local Authority Partnership for Early Years has been established and meets on a termly basis (three times per year). An assessment of the specific issues faced with obtaining childcare during periods of deployment will be considered in due course, following the completion of associated review activity. Work on the carers statement began with a stock take of existing Defence policy to identify the support that was already in place to support carers. This is being complimented with work to look at the lived experience of those carers within Defence and has included gathering evidence from families impacted through working very closely with the networks of existing carers champions within Defence and with such organisations as the Forces Additional Needs and Disability Forum. Defence are members of “employers for carers” which as part of the Carers UK organisation provides guidance and support for staff who may have carers within their workforce, and we have been actively promoting this throughout our workforce and have already seen a positive increase in engagement with this resource. Defence will continue to work toward a statement of intent regarding carers and aim to publish this following consultation with our stakeholders during the summer of 2023.

Military Bases: Wind Power

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the wind power targets for the Defence Estate are.

Alex Chalk: The Strategy for Defence Infrastructure, published in January 2022 set the ambition to have a resilient energy supply across Defence establishments. Ensuring resilience will require a move towards increased energy independence, reducing reliance on the National Grid with increased self-generation of energy. Opportunities for wind power are routinely considered; however, Defence activities severely constrain the opportunities for large scale wind energy generation across the estate. Energy solutions will need to be appropriate to each establishment, informed by energy surveys, and balanced against safeguarding military requirements as the primary use of land. Therefore, there are currently no specific targets in place. In addition, it is important that Defence has a blend of energy generation capability, to ensure resilience of supply. A Defence Estate Energy Strategy is under development to plot the route to increased energy resilience across the Estate.

Military Bases: Solar Power

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the solar power targets for the Defence Estate are.

Alex Chalk: The Strategy for Defence Infrastructure, published in January 2022 set the ambition to have a resilient energy supply across Defence establishments. Ensuring resilience will require a move towards increased energy independence, reducing reliance on the National Grid with increased self-generation of energy. Solar power (e.g. Project PROMETHEUS) will be an important contributor to self-generation. Energy solutions will need to be appropriate to each establishment, informed by energy surveys and balanced against safeguarding military requirements as the primary use of land. Therefore, there are currently no specific targets in place. In addition, it is important that Defence has a blend of energy generation capability, to ensure resilience of supply. A Defence Estate Energy Strategy is under development to plot the route to increased energy resilience across the Estate.

Ajax Vehicles

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many senior responsible owners have worked on the Ajax programme since 2010.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the senior responsible owner for Ajax started in that post.

Alex Chalk: I refer the right hon. Member to the response given to the right hon. Member for North Durham (Kevan Jones) on 18 March 2022 in answer to Question 140402.Ajax Vehicles (docx, 23.2KB)

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 146790 on Armed Forces: Housing, what these figures were in (a) February and (b) March 2023.

Alex Chalk: Each month, on average, there will typically be over 20,200 maintenance tasks raised for the circa 37,000 currently occupied Service Family Accommodation properties; this equates to each home having on average five to six repairs carried out annually. These tasks will range from changing bulbs in strip lights, grounds maintenance, through to boiler repairs.The tables below show the number of work orders which were reported each month to the Regional Accommodation Maintenance Service suppliers and remained open at the end of each month in Northern and Central and Southeast and Southwest regions that were classed as urgent and routine in February 2023 and March 2023. There were no emergency work orders outstanding in any region. Amey (Northern and Central - combined) As at end of MonthUrgentRoutineFebruary 20230378March 202313875 VIVO (Southeast and Southwest combined) As at end of MonthUrgentRoutineFebruary 202329811March 2023281018  VIVO have confirmed that whilst a number of older jobs were initially diagnosed as an urgent repair, many families received an initial visit and temporary repair but await full resolution. In some cases, VIVO have been unable to contact these families by phone and so have written to them, a process agreed with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

RAF Waddington

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) size in hectares and (b) Housing Unit Potential is of RAF Waddington as of 17 April 2023.

Alex Chalk: RAF Waddington is 410.62 hectares in size. No assessment has been made of the Housing Unit Potential of the site, as it has not been identified for disposal.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time taken was by Capita to process applications to join the regular or reserve forces in the last twelve months.

Alex Chalk: The British Army conducts recruiting activities in partnership with Capita under the Recruiting Partnership Programme, whereas the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force deliver recruitment in house. The below table therefore represents the average length of time for Army applicants only. The table below shows the average time in days from application to starting training. Mean time (Days)  Regular Officer524Reserve Officer338Regular Other Ranks203Reserve Other Ranks169 Notes / Caveats - Averages have been calculated using data from the recruiting year (RY) 2021/22 application cohort data.- Data for RY 2022/23 is not yet available as it takes time for cohorts to mature to the point of intake.- There are several variables that may impact the time it takes to progress through the recruitment pipeline, including but not limited to, timely individual participation in the recruitment process, medical/fitness issues, aptitude testing success and availability of training places.- The recruitment process for Officers can take significantly longer given that candidates can go to university between application and arriving at RMAS.

RAF Syerston

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) size in hectares and (b) Housing Unit Potential is of RAF Syerston.

Alex Chalk: RAF Syerston is 244.76 hectares in size. No assessment has been made of the Housing Unit Potential of the site, as it has not been identified for disposal.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was for Capita to process application forms for the regular and reserve forces in each of the last three years.

Alex Chalk: The British Army conducts recruiting activities in partnership with Capita under the Recruiting Partnership Programme, whereas the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force deliver recruitment in house. The below table therefore represents the cost to the Army only. The cost of processing application forms is not captured as a separate activity under the Army Recruiting Contract with Capita, but within the overall cost of recruiting. Recruiting costs are covered by a combination of the Service Management Charge and the Recruitment charge. The latter charge alters depending upon the volume of recruiting demand in a particular year, whereas the former is a fixed charge not dependant on demand volumes. Additionally, there are costs relating to medical assessment activities included. The table below shows the costs over the last three financial years: Financial YearCostComments2020-21£43.57 millionFigures include the Service Management Charge, Recruitment Charge and medical assessment costs2021-22£40.29 million2022-23£42.65 million

Army: Electric Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for the use of electric propulsion in Army vehicles.

Alex Chalk: Last year, the British Army announced a major step-change in its commitment to ultra-modern warfare with the publication of its Battlefield Electrification approach. A key part of the Future Soldier vision, the approach sets out how the Army will focus on an increase in the use of batteries, sustainable energy, and Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) technologies across its vehicle fleet. https://www.army.mod.uk/media/17010/british-army-approach-to-battlefield-electrification.pdf

Nuclear Submarines: Safety

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nuclear site events there were at (a) Coulport and (b) Faslane in the last 12 months.

Alex Chalk: The table below provides the number of Nuclear Site Event Reports (NSERs) at Coulport and Faslane recorded between January 2022 to March 2023. These are shown according to their categorisation using criteria agreed locally in 2015. Nuclear Site Events- 2022Category ACategory BCategory CCategory DBelow ScaleCoulport0271540Faslane00207347 Nuclear Site Events- 2023Category ACategory BCategory CCategory DBelow ScaleCoulport00267Faslane0162610 In line with Industry Good Practice and in common with other defence and civil nuclear sites, His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde has a well-established system for raising NSERs. NSERs are raised to foster a robust safety culture that learns from experience, whether that is equipment failures, human error, procedural failings, documentation shortcoming or near-misses. The safety significance of all reported events remains low and are below Level 1, the lowest of the seven-point Internal Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). None of the events caused harm to the health of any member of staff on the Naval Base or to any member of the public or have resulted in any radiological impact to the environment.

Ajax Vehicles

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which headsets personnel are using when working with Ajax for the reliability growth trials.

Alex Chalk: Personnel operating Ajax in Reliability Growth Trials are using a 'dual layer' headset, comprising of the in service Crewguard Mk2 outer headset and Communications Ear Piece inner headset. This configuration was successfully demonstrated during the Ajax User Validation Trials.

Ajax Vehicles

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the senior responsible owner for Ajax is working in that role on a full-time basis.

Alex Chalk: Yes.

Military Bases: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many boilers were replaced in (a) Service Family Accommodation and (b) Single Living Accommodation in financial year 2022-23; and what the cost to his Department of those replacements was.

Alex Chalk: The total number of boilers replaced in Service Family Accommodation in the financial year 2022-23 was 1,446 at a cost of c£3.1 million. Due to the format in which Single Living Accommodation data is recorded, the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Military Bases: Boilers

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many boilers there are in (a) Service Family Accommodation and (b) Single living accommodation; and how many of those boilers are over (i) 10 and (ii) 15 years old.

Alex Chalk: There are a total of 47,448 boilers in Service Family Accommodation (SFA). Of these, 1,366 have no boiler age recorded. The total number of boilers in SFA which are between 10 and 15 years old is 41,237. Approximately 2,500 boilers are replaced annually within SFA. Due to the format in which Single Living Accommodation data is recorded, the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 165250 on Ministry of Defence: Housing, if he will provide a breakdown of what the £73 million from the service family accommodation improvement budget spent by his Department for the financial year 2022-23 was spent on.

Alex Chalk: The table below shows how the £73 million Service Families Accommodation improvement budget for financial year (FY) 2022-23 was spent. Please note many projects span more than one FY, so figures also include expenditure attributed to a type of works which may have begun prior to the start of or after the end of FY 2022-23. Type of WorksCostsDamp and Mould Remediation Works£4.3 millionDoors and Windows Replacement£12.6 millionExternal Wall Insulation (includes new doors and windows and roof replacement)£43 millionHeating replacements£2.5 millionKitchen trials (updated kitchen specification trials)£42,000Playparks£5 millionSFA Refurbishment£1.8 millionRoof replacement£8 millionStreetlight replacement£295,000Structural repair (bringing void properties back online)£500,000Wire moves – to allow for handback of SFA to Annington Homes£2.6 millionRoad Resurfacing£1 millionTOTALc£81 million

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 146784 on Armed Forces: Housing, what the figures are for (a) February and (b) March 2023.

Alex Chalk: The table below shows the number of compensation payments made for issues relating to Service Family Accommodation and their total value for February and March 2023. Number of compensation claimsTotal Value of compensation paymentsFebruary 2023996£208,438March 20232976£267,648 The increase in March was due to Pinnacle’s efforts to reduce the backlog in processing compensation claims. Compensation payments are administered and funded by the suppliers at no cost to the Ministry of Defence. There are different levels of compensation, although there were more claims in March, there were more lower levels of compensation paid.

Armed Forces: Private Education

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department allocated to the Continuity of Education Allowance in financial year 2022-23; how many children were covered by that funding; and if he will provide a breakdown of the ranks of the claimants of that allowance.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide a breakdown of the (a) Continuity of Education Allowance allocated to each school in financial year 2022-23 and (b) number of places funded at each school in that year.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) assists Service personnel to achieve continuity of education for their children that would otherwise be denied in the state-maintained day school sector due to the mobility of their family, because of consecutive assignments. CEA is available to all Service personnel, irrespective of rank, subject to them satisfying the qualifying criteria. Service personnel may select from a wide variety of schools across the UK from within the independent and state-maintained sectors that meet set criteria. Each claimant is required to contribute at least 10 per cent of the fees at independent schools. As at 18 April 2023, the total spend on Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) in Financial Year 2022-23 was £84.59 million. A total of 4,210 children were covered by that funding. The attached table details the number of children supported and the amount spent at each school on Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) by the Ministry of Defence in the financial year 2022-23.The below table details the number of Service Personnel that have received CEA in 2022-23 broken down by NATO Rank.NATO RankCount of Service PersonnelOF1~OF2270OF3360OF4470OF5240OF680OF720OF8~OF9~OR220OR350OR4250OR6370OR7330OR8220OR9100Grand Total2,800 Notes:Rounded figures are to the nearest five, with numbers below five replaced by the tilde symbol ('~'). All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. Totals have been rounded separately and therefore may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.Due to the possibility of rank changes in year between CEA claims, only the most senior rank for each individual has been retained in order to avoid counting the same individual twice.An explanation of NATO rank equivalencies can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tri-service-pension-codes-april-2020/key-to-rank-codes-april-2020Continuity of Education Allowance (xlsx, 3807.6KB)

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to table 2.2a of the Annual Statistics Tables 2022 - Service Complaints published by the Service Complaints Ombudsman, if he will publish further details of the 260 other service complaints.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to table 2.2a in the Annual Statistics Tables 2022: Service Complaints published by the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces, for what reason there was a 49 per cent increase in formal service complaints classified as other between 2021 and 2022.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The ‘other’ service complaints identified in table 2.2a of the Service Complaints Annual Statistics Tables 2022 has risen because there was a rise in the component categories that are classified as ‘other’ for statistical purposes. Further details of the 260 ‘other’ service complaints identified in table 2.2a of the Service Complaints Annual Statistics Tables 2022 is given in table 2.1 of the same data set.

LGBT Veterans Independent Review

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's planned timescale is for the independent review into the service and experience of LGBT veterans who served between 1967 to 2000.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs jointly commissioned the independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre 2000 policy relating to homosexual people serving in HM Armed Forces. The review underlines Defence’s unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT community. LGBT veterans who served from 1967 to 2000 were invited to provide testimony of their experience. Testimony was also sought from those who witnessed the treatment of LGBT personnel; those involved in delivering the ban and friends and families of LGBT veterans no longer able to give evidence. The call seeking this testimony and views from individuals and organisations was made on 5 August 2022 and closed on 1 December 2022. The report and recommendations are expected to be submitted for the Government’s consideration in May 2023. Defence will endeavour to publish the review as quickly as possible.

Commonwealth: Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether armed forces personnel from the Commonwealth Realms will be involved in the Coronation.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the British armed forces will be involved in the King’s coronation; from which regiments they will come from; and what role the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force will have in the King's coronation.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many troops from participating Commonwealth countries will be involved in the coronation.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Around 5,000 Armed Forces personnel will accompany their Sovereign from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and back in two separate processions featuring sailors, soldiers and aviators from across the UK and the breadth of the Commonwealth. The first, The King’s Procession, is the smaller in scale of the two and will feature just under 200 members, centred around The Sovereign’s Escort of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. They will travel down The Mall to Trafalgar Square where they will turn onto Whitehall before marching to Westminster Abbey. Flanking them will be over 1,000 Forces route liners from all three services drawn from multiple regiments. The second, The Coronation Procession, will follow the same route back to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey and feature nearly 4,000 personnel, again from all three services and drawn from multiple regiments. Nearly 400 Armed Forces personnel from at least 35 Commonwealth countries will also be on parade to mark the historic moment. The Coronation Procession will represent the diversity and traditions of the UK and Commonwealth Armed Forces. A full-spectrum display of unique and historic uniforms whose designs are in some cases hundreds of years old, flags from across the Commonwealth and 20 different bands will demonstrate the very best of the Armed Forces. They will guide Their Majesties back to Buckingham Palace, before conducting a Royal Salute Following the military procession there will be a six-minute flypast. Aircraft from all three services will be watched by members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as they fly in formation over the Mall.   Across the UK gun salutes will sound at the moment of The King’s Coronation to celebrate the historic moment, including at firing stations in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, featuring more than 400 personnel across 13 locations and deployed Royal Navy ships.

Department for Education

Universities: Neurodiversity

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support neurodiverse university students; and whether she supports mandatory neurodiversity training for university staff.

Robert Halfon: This government believes it is important that all students, including those with neurodiverse conditions and/or disabilities, receive an appropriate level of support wherever and whatever they choose to study. The government is committed to ensuring that all students receive the support they need to enable them to study alongside their fellow students on an equal basis.The government expects all higher education (HE) providers to fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to be making reasonable adjustments for all students, including students with neurodiverse conditions and disabled HE students, not just those in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).In terms of funding, DSA is available in addition to the standard support package to help students with the additional costs they may face in HE because of their disability, including long-term health conditions, mental health conditions, or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.DSA is not means tested and does not have to be repaid. It is available to full-time and part-time students at undergraduate and postgraduate level, alongside support available from HE providers, and in line with the recommendations of the student’s DSA Needs Assessment. There is no list of approved disabilities: to receive DSA, any student must be eligible for the main support package and disabled in line with the definition contained in the Equality Act 2010.Wherever possible, disabled students and students with neurodiverse conditions should expect to have their needs met through inclusive learning practices and individual reasonable adjustments made by their HE providers.

Sign Language: Education

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will provide free access to British Sign Language lessons to those who require it as their primary method of communication.

Robert Halfon: The government has no plans to introduce universal free British Sign Language (BSL) courses. Funding is available through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) for qualifications in or focussing on BSL up to and including Level 2. About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners that are resident in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency provides the remaining funding for learners that are resident in non-devolved areas. Some providers of Community Learning offer BSL courses, and those providers determine the course fees, including levels of fee remission. For qualifications at Level 3 and above, Advanced Learner Loans are available for certain BSL qualifications. BSL qualifications and the appropriate further education funding offer can be found at: https://www.qualifications.education.gov.uk/Search. If undertaking a BSL qualification that leads to a master’s level qualification, eligible students can access a postgraduate loan, as long as they have not previously accessed the postgraduate loan product, or they already hold a level 7 qualification. Several universities and organisations offer such qualifications.

Pre-school Education: Qualifications

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people are training for a full and relevant qualification in early years and childcare and are due to qualify by September 2025.

Robert Halfon: During the 2021/22 academic year (the latest year of available data) there were 52,650 students studying Early Years and childcare qualifications.This was comprised of 48,400 learners studying qualifications at English further education (FE) providers and 4,250 full-person-equivalent entrants to Early Years subject areas at English higher education (HE) providersFor HE, Early Years subjects were defined by the ‘Higher Education Classification of Subject’ (HECOS) codes ‘100457 early childhood studies’, ‘100463 early years education’ and ‘100510 early years teaching’, or any course aim leading to Early Years Teacher Status, such as H12, I12 and I73. For FE, Early Years qualifications were defined as those on the ‘Early Years qualifications achieved in the United Kingdom’ list, which is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-qualifications-achieved-in-england.The department does not forecast the number of learners predicted to achieve these qualifications by September 2025.

Further Education: Sixth Form Education

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of changes to Level 3 Qualifications on the education of 16 to 18 year-olds.

Robert Halfon: The department has published impact assessments to reflect the potential effect of reforms to Level 3, post-16 qualifications in England on the education of 16 to 19 year olds.The most recent impact assessment, published in March 2023, provides an overview of the potential effects on students aged 16 to 19 resulting from the proposed removal of public funding approval from those qualifications that have been assessed as overlapping with T Levels. This can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1146228/EIA_updated_final_wave_1_2_T_Level_overlap_inc_Health_and_Science.pdf.A further impact assessment, published in July 2022, which reflects all planned reforms to qualifications at Level 3, is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1091841/Revised_Review_of_post-16_qualifications_at_level_3_in_England_impact_assessment.pdf.

Childcare: Local Government

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value is of the contract her Department holds with Hempsall’s for the delivery of childcare sufficiency support to local authorities in the period between April 2023 and March 2025.

Claire Coutinho: On 2 November 2022, the department launched a competitive open procurement in accordance with Regulation 27 of Public Contract Regulations 2015 for the Local Authority Childcare Sufficiency Support Contract. This was conducted electronically via the Jaggaer e-tendering portal, with 3 bids received. The result of the tender was a single successful supplier, Hempsall Consultancies Limited.On 7 March 2023, the department published the contract award, this can be located at: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/006612-2023. The contract value can be found at paragraph 11.1.7 and is £825,000, excluding VAT.

Special Educational Needs: Staff

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of SEN staff in local authorities.

Claire Coutinho: The department does not hold data on local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) staff. In the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, the department committed to considering further the skills and training that local authority SEND casework teams receive. When consulting on amending the SEND Code of Practice, the department will propose new guidance on delivering a responsive and supportive SEND casework service to families.Local authorities are responsible for managing their local SEND services to meet their statutory duties around children and young people with SEND. The SEND and AP Improvement Plan can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1139561/SEND_and_alternative_provision_improvement_plan.pdf.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve early years teacher training.

Claire Coutinho: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Woking, to the answer I gave on 16 January 2023 to Question 177575.

Children: Hearing Impairment

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support parents of deaf children in Bournemouth East constituency.

Claire Coutinho: The department recognises the importance of supporting parents of all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including deaf children or those with a hearing impairment.On 2 March 2023, the government published the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan in response to the Green Paper. The Improvement Plan outlines the department’s approach to building capacity to achieve the behaviours and culture required for the successful implementation of these policy reforms. These reforms will give families greater confidence that their child will be able to fulfil their potential through improved mainstream provision in their local setting.For those children and young people with SEND who do require an education, health and care (EHC) plan and specialist provision, the department will ensure they get prompt access to the support they need, and that parents do not face an adversarial system to secure this.We will strengthen accountability across the system so that everyone is held to account for supporting children and young people with SEND.The department also works closely with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority to ensure that all children’s needs are met, including support with its written statement of action.

Special Educational Needs: Staff

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to help ensure adequate staffing levels in local authority SEN teams.

Claire Coutinho: In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, the department committed to considering further the skills and training that local authority SEND casework teams receive. When consulting on amending the SEND Code of Practice, the department will propose new guidance on delivering a responsive and supportive SEND casework service to families. The SEND and AP Improvement Plan can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1139561/SEND_and_alternative_provision_improvement_plan.pdf.

Childcare: Fees and Charges

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward the date at which parents of one and two year-olds are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare.

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the extension of free childcare will not commence until 2024.

Claire Coutinho: The government announced in the Spring Budget 2023 that there will be a number of transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This announcement represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England.Currently, eligible working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks a year. From April 2024, working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks a year. From September 2024, this will be extended to parents of 9 month to 3-year-olds, and from September 2025, working parents of 9 month to 3-year-olds will be able to access 30 free hours per week, over 38 weeks a year.This is a large expansion in the 30 hours offer and will take some time to implement and rollout. The department wants to make sure that taxpayers’ money is used efficiently, and the new offer is delivered in the best way. The department is ensuring a phased implementation of the expansion to the offer to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity, and we are working closely with the sector on the implementation of these reforms.The department has already spent more than £20 billion over the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare. In the last decade, we have doubled the free childcare entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds to 30 hours and introduced 15 free hours a week for disadvantaged 2-year-olds.The reforms announced build on our current early education entitlements which continue to support parents, including a universal 15-hour offer for all 3 and 4-year-olds, the 15-hour offer for the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds, and the existing 30 hours offer, as well as Tax Free Childcare and Universal Childcare.

Schools: Ethnic Groups

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing safeguarding and training programmes in schools to (a) protect Black and minority ethnic students and (b) assist them to deal with racism.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to tackle racism in (a) schools and (b) amongst young people.

Claire Coutinho: The government condemns and strives to tackle all forms of racial discrimination, prejudice and harassment. Under the Equality Act 2010, schools have a duty to take steps to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations across all protected characteristics, including between people of different ethnic backgrounds. The department has published advice to support schools to fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools?msclkid=9ce22dddcc5d11ec9a0a2d6e2fd0a666.Challenging intolerant, racist or discriminatory views, where these are shared at school, should be seen as part of schools’ wider anti-bullying and safeguarding duties. All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. The policy should set out the behaviour expected of pupils, the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, and recognition for good behaviour. This should be communicated to all pupils, school staff and parents.The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance, ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which applies to all schools, makes it clear that all staff should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training which is regularly updated. It also makes clear that all staff should receive safeguarding and child protection updates as required, and at least annually, to continue to provide them with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively. The department does not mandate specific programmes as we believe that schools and colleges are best placed to decide on the training needs of their staff, taking into account local issues. The guidance can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101454/Keeping_children_safe_in_education_2022.pdf.The department publishes information, guidance and support for teachers and school leaders on how to challenge radical views, including racist and discriminatory beliefs, on the Educate Against Hate website. One of these resources is the Respectful School Communities toolkit, a self-review and signposting tool to support schools in developing a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This can help to combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind, including hate-based bullying, and is available here: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.The department is also providing over £2 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools in tackling bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying.

Sign Language: Education

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to fund British Sign Language classes for families with deaf children.

Claire Coutinho: The department understands the great importance of British Sign Language (BSL) for bridging barriers to communication between hearing and deaf people. We also appreciate the vital need for families with deaf children to be able to access BSL courses, as early access to language is essential to help children learn and thrive.Funding is available through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) for qualifications in or focussing on BSL, up to and including level 2. These qualifications include, for example, the Level 1 Award in BSL which allows learners to communicate in BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use, thereby giving them the basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL. It will depend on an individual’s circumstances as to whether they are entitled to free provision or expected to meet part of the cost (through co-funding).About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.For some BSL courses, Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) are available, and parents can find more information about which qualifications are eligible here: https://www.qualifications.education.gov.uk/Search. More general information about the provision of ALLs is available at: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan.For parents learning BSL on an AEB funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment, and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Ministry of Justice

Courts and Tribunals: Reform

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) representatives of the judiciary on (i) the budget of and (ii) progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme.

Mike Freer: The Government is modernising courts and tribunals systems through the HMCTS Reform programme. Our ambitious programme is designed to improve courts and tribunals for both those who use them and those working in them.It is standard practice not to comment on discussions between Ministers and the judiciary.The Lord Chancellor has responsibility for the courts and tribunals and regularly discusses a wide range of issues with Cabinet colleagues.

Courts and Tribunals: Reform

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme published on 23 Feb 2023, whether he has had discussions with HM Courts & Tribunals Service on that report's finding that 55 per cent of the courts and tribunals reform programme had been completed.

Mike Freer: The ministerial team at the Ministry of Justice are committed to ensuring the success of the HMCTS Reform Programme.I routinely discuss progress on the programme with HMCTS officials, and ministerial colleagues receive regular updates through robust governance structures put in place across the Ministry.This has helped us to identify key areas for improvement and enables me to make informed decisions that will continue to drive the overall success of the Reform Programme.

Courts and Tribunals: Reform

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme, published on 23 February 2023, whether he has made an assessment of the impact on his Department's policies of that report's findings of a decrease in expected lifetime savings from the reform programme from £2,313 million to £2,003 million.

Mike Freer: Since 2016, we have been modernising our justice system to make it more straightforward, accessible, and efficient. Reformed projects are having a significant impact on those who need our justice system, as well as helping the most vulnerable in our society. There’s been widespread uptake; we have received over 2 million digitally submitted cases to our reformed services. Through handling cases digitally, we are aiming to make them easier to access for users, speed up the process, and reduce errors.We also continue to take action to reduce the Crown Court backlog, through judicial recruitment, continued use of Nightingale Courts and working with the judiciary to explore ways to improve the efficiency of the Crown Court.

Courts and Tribunals: Reform

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme published on 23 February 2023, what assessment he has made of the impact on his Department's policies of that report's findings on a reduction in estimated savings from the reform programme.

Mike Freer: Since 2016, we have been modernising our justice system to make it more straightforward, accessible and efficient. Reformed projects are having a significant impact on those who need our justice system, as well as helping the most vulnerable in our society. There’s been widespread uptake; we’ve received over 2 million digitally submitted cases to our reformed services. Through handling cases digitally, we are aiming to make them easier to access for users, speed up the process, and reduce errors.

Offenders: Neurodiversity

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of providing therapeutic placements instead of prison sentences for people with mental health, neurodiversity or learning difficulties.

Damian Hinds: The Ministry of Justice is committed to continuing to work closely with health and justice partners to increase the use of therapeutic alternatives to custody, to better address the underlying causes of offending behaviour and divert people from prison, where appropriate. This includes supporting health partners to scale up the availability of primary Mental Health Treatment Requirements, which provide a vital non-custodial pathway for those with mental health needs. NHS England are on track to achieve 100% coverage across every court in England by 2024. Specialist input has also been provided to ensure that all Community Sentence Treatment Requirements are accessible and appropriate for individuals with neurodiverse needs. Evaluation of MHTRs is ongoing which will explore the benefits of this approach, the latest report was published on 31 March 2023 and can be found here: https://pure.northampton.ac.uk/en/publications/community-sentence-treatment-requirement-multisite-report-july-20-5. In addition, NHS England provide a flagship Liaison and Diversion service, which helps to identify and support people who have mental health, substance misuse or neurodiverse needs when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system. This service is available in police custody suites and courts across England, to support people to access health or social care in the community and enable them to be diverted away from the criminal justice system into a more therapeutic setting, where appropriate.

Lay Observers: Pay

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the role of the Chair of the National Council of Lay Observers is not remunerated; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of remunerating that role in line with the level of remuneration provided to the Chair of the National Board of the Independent Monitoring Boards.

Damian Hinds: The Government’s assessment is that it does not currently have statutory authority to remunerate the role of the Chair of the National Council of Lay Observers. The department has considered the merits of remunerating this role and, when parliamentary time allows, our intention remains to introduce a statutory framework to combine the Independent Monitoring Boards’ Management Board and Lay Observers’ National Council into a single Board under a single, remunerated Chair. The intention is to recognise both the unified Board and the Chair role in legislation.

Knives: Crime

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the length of sentences for knife-related offences.

Edward Argar: Tackling knife crime is a priority and this Government is determined to do all it can to break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities. I welcome the consultation published by the Home Office this week which contains proposals to tackle the use of machetes and other bladed articles in crime. While sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, this Government introduced measures through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to ensure that, when sentencing for threat with or repeat possession of a knife, the courts must pass at least the minimum sentence unless there are exceptional circumstances. Since 2010, the average custodial sentence length for knife possession has increased by almost 20%.

Asylum: Legal Opinion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government is taking steps to increase the availability of legal advice to people making an asylum claim.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of legal advice available to people making an asylum claim.

Mike Freer: The Government is committed to ensuring that those seeking asylum in this country have access to publicly funded legal advice and representation.Access to legal aid is a key part of a fair immigration system, which is why we are spending around £8m expanding access to legal aid, helping victims of modern slavery, individuals prioritised for removal and individuals appealing an age assessment decision.The Legal Aid Agency keeps market capacity and the provision of services under constant review and takes immediate action when gaps appear, working with providers to ensure provision nationally.

Cabinet Office

Peers

Hywel Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many peerages have been conferred in each of the last five years.

Alex Burghart: The number of peerages conferred in each of the last five years are:2019 - 23 peers;2020 - 58 peers;2021 - 4 peers;2022 - 33 peers;2023 - 1 peerage. [1]It is a long-standing convention that the main political parties may nominate individuals to the House of Lords. Individuals are nominated in recognition of their contribution to society and their public and political service, and peers are appointed to further contribute to public service in Parliament. [1] On 9 March 2023 His Majesty The King conferred the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, on the occasion of His Royal Highness's 59th birthday.

Blood: Contamination

Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Second Interim report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on 5 April, if he will take steps to implement without delay the report's recommendation to provide interim compensation payments to the parents and children of those impacted by the contaminated blood scandal.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the Honourable Lady to the statement made on Wednesday April 19 2023, in response to the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Second Interim Report.

Women and Equalities

Disability Unit: Staff

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March to Question 161350 on Disability Unit: Staff, what proportion of staff (a) did not declare their disability status and (b) declared that they would prefer not to say in each year for which data is available.

Maria Caulfield: 9% of staff in the Disability Unit did not declare their disability status (as at 31st March 2023).We are unable to provide details of the proportion of staff who declared they would prefer not to disclose their disability status, because the small numbers involved could permit the identification of individuals.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Laos: Christianity

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Christians in Laos.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK is committed to promoting and defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), as demonstrated by our hosting the 'International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief' in July 2022. The biennial UK-Laos Political Dialogue includes protection of human rights, which were raised by the former Minister for Asia Pacific (Minister Milling MP) during the Dialogue held in April 2022. We also work through the UN to promote and protect these rights. Our Ambassador regularly calls on the Laos authorities to uphold rights and also promotes human rights, including religious freedom, in public fora.

Guatemala: Diplomatic Service

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK nationals requested consular assistance in Guatemala in the last 12 months.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has provided consular assistance in 42 new cases in Guatemala in the last 12 months.

Guatemala: Visits Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to visit Guatemala.

David Rutley: I (Minister Rutley) visited Guatemala on 17 April. My visit focused on strengthening ties between the UK and Guatemala as well as discussing a wide range of topics, such as the war in Ukraine, free trade through the UK-Central America Association Agreement, regional stability, democracy and the rule of law, and climate change. This was my first visit to the country and was part of a regional visit to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. At this time, the Foreign Secretary has no plans to visit Guatemala.

Malaria: Disease Control

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential contribution of the UK's malaria science sector to preventing, diagnosing and treating malaria; and what steps his Department is taking to support that sector.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK's malaria science sector has made significant contributions to the development of antimalarial drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tools. We continue to support the sector through our research and development investments. This includes support to the Liverpool-based Innovative Vector Control Consortium to develop novel bed-nets and to Oxford university to develop a new generation of antimalarial medicines to tackle the threat posed by emerging drug resistance. In collaboration with UK Research and Innovation we have also funded a study led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to evaluate the role of malaria vaccines when deployed in combination with seasonal administration of antimalarials.

Myanmar: Politics and Government

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the level of Chinese support for the junta in Myanmar.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK closely monitors the role of all countries engaging on Myanmar, including regional actors such as China. The UK is committed to ending the crisis in Myanmar. We will continue to raise these issues on the international stage, including at the UN Security Council, where we are the pen-holder. Most recently on 21 December 2022 the UK coordinated a landmark UN Security Council Resolution on Myanmar which urged immediate action by the military regime to fully implement the ASEAN Five Point Consensus.

Victoire Ingabire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of whether the 2010 arrest and 2012 detention of Victoire Ingabire in Rwandawasarbitrary.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are aware of the case of Victoire Ingabire and note issues around due process in her arrest and detention. The British High Commission in Kigali regularly raises issues of political space and human rights with Rwandan Government. Most recently, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon discussed these issues with Minister of State Manasseh during his visit to Kigali in October.

Development Aid: Education

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure Official Development Assistance funding for education strengthens public education institutions (a) where state provision is weak or non-existent and (b) generally.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: UK research - including the Research in Improving Systems of Education programme - has improved global understanding of how to support education reform. This has shaped the UK's education portfolio to deliver quality, safe education for all children. We are the largest donor to the Global Partnership for Education which works to strengthen government education systems with government, including in fragile and conflict affected countries. UK-led projects - such as the Girls' Education Challenge - work closely with governments where state provision is weak, using UK-led research, to influence policy on how to reach the most marginalised. The Girls' Education Challenge has supported over 1.5 million children to receive education.

Development Aid: Climate Change

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2023 to Question 148590, on Development Aid: Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK's progress towards fulfilling its commitment to spend £11.6 billion International Climate Finance between 2021-22 and 2025-26.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Tackling climate change remains a key priority for the UK Government as set out in the UK government's strategy for international development and the Integrated Review Refresh. On 30 March 2023 the UK published the UK International Climate Finance (ICF) Strategy which sets out, in detail, our plans to deliver on our commitments. In addition, we publish our ICF results annually, setting out our achievements to date.

Tibet: Education

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterparts on the mandatory residential school system for children in Tibet.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to raise the issue of the mandatory residential school-system in Tibet with his Chinese counterparts at the G7.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We are aware of reports of human rights violations in Tibet, including severe restrictions on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), Tibetans dying in custody, coercive control, labour transfer schemes and Tibetan parents being coerced and intimidated into sending their children to boarding schools. We continue to raise the situation in Tibet with the Chinese authorities. We also coordinate with partners to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Tibet. In June 2022, a UK led lobbying effort helped to secure the support of 46 other countries for a joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) which highlighted the situation in Tibet and called on the Chinese authorities to abide by their human rights obligations. In March, we raised the issue of boarding schools in our Item 4 statement at the UN HRC. We will continue to press China to cease human rights violations.

Myanmar: Politics and Government

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had on coordinated action against the junta in Myanmar with his international counterparts in that region.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK is committed to working closely with international partners to coordinate robust action against the Myanmar military. We acknowledge and highlight the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) centrality, reaffirming the regional bloc's strong leadership on the response to the Myanmar crisis. The UK led the UN Security Council Resolution adopted on 21 December 2022 demands an end to violence and urges immediate action by the military regime to fully implement the ASEAN Five Point Consensus and release all those arbitrarily detained.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Broadband: Southwark

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate her Department has 0made of the number of households without fibre-optic broadband in (a) Camberwell and Peckham and (b) Southwark as of 17 April 2023.

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to take steps to help improve broadband infrastructure in Camberwell and Peckham.

Julia Lopez: The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. By 2025 the government is targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage.Today, less than 9.6% of premises in Camberwell and Peckham and 10.8% of premises in Southwark specifically do not have access to a gigabit-capable network; meaning the overwhelming majority - 90.4% of premises in Camberwell and Peckham and 89.2% of premises in Southwark - already have gigabit coverage.In order to further improve connectivity in Camberwell, Peckham and Southwark, we have published the Digital Connectivity Portal, which offers extensive guidance to help local authorities facilitate broadband deployment. This includes technical information on the application of telecoms legislation; practical examples of best practice such as the Street Works Toolkit for working in the country’s highways; and wayleave templates for telecoms operators to gain access to public sector land.The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology officials regularly facilitate meetings and workshops between local government and the broadband industry, to build relationships that foster more frictionless deployment. The four sub-regional partnerships across London have been vital in coordinating this work. For example, Central London Forward, which represents Southwark, has actively worked with the Government on a number of initiatives.More generally, we have made it as attractive as possible for firms to build their networks in the UK by removing barriers to rollout and working with Ofcom to promote competition and investment. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.

Internet: Security

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the regulation of (a) optional and (b) essential website cookies.

Julia Lopez: We are taking steps in the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill (DPDI Bill) to reform the provisions in the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PEC Regulations) which set the rules on the use of cookies (and similar technologies).The current legislation prohibits organisations from placing cookies on a person’s computer, or other connected device without consent, unless they are essential for the provision of a requested service (for example, to remember what is in their online basket).In practice, this means that web users may experience multiple cookie ‘pop-up’ notices on every website they visit which can negatively affect their browsing experience. That is whythe Bill will remove the need to seek consent for the placement of some types of cookies that pose low privacy risks, such as those used to count the number of visitors to a web page. As a result of these changes, web users will know that if they continue to see cookie pop up banners, it is because their personal data may be used for more intrusive purposes, such as profiling for advertising purposes.The Bill will also allow the Secretary of State to update the list of cookies that do not require consent through the use of regulations. This could be useful if other non-intrusive uses of cookies are identified or, when people become more confident about using different technology, such as browser and device settings, to set their online preferences.The DPDI Bill was published on 8 March 2023 and can be found here.

Businesses: Fraud

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill on the scope for businesses to share data in order to reduce fraud; and if she will make a statement.

Julia Lopez: Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses from fraud, reduce the impact of fraud on victims, and increase the disruption and prosecution of fraudsters. This is why we will shortly publish a new strategy to address the threat of fraud.The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, which is currently before Parliament will make it easier for businesses to process personal data in order to tackle all types of crime, including fraud and other types of economic crime. When the Bill is commenced, they will be able to rely on a new lawful ground of ‘recognised legitimate interests’ under the UK GDPR to process personal data for these purposes. Unlike the current legislation, this will not require businesses to do a detailed assessment of the potential impact of the processing on the rights of individuals, which may affect the speed at which intelligence information relating to suspected fraud is shared.Reforms in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will also enable businesses, in certain situations, to share information more easily for the purposes of preventing, investigating or detecting economic crime by disapplying civil liability for breaches of confidentiality for firms who share information to combat economic crime.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Horticulture: Peat

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to respond to the letter from the Klondyke Group, dated 7 April 2023, on banning the use of peat for professional growers.

Trudy Harrison: A reply is being prepared and will be sent to the correspondent directly.

Furs: Imports

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, further to the Government’s response to e-petition 630751 entitled Retain bans on cat, dog, seal fur imports, and extend to ban all fur imports, in which it says it has no plans currently to make further changes in this area, whether her Department is still considering responses received to the 2021 call for evidence on The Fur Market in Great Britain.

Mark Spencer: We are carefully reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and from wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders.We will use the evidence gathered to inform any future action on the fur trade, in line with the Government’s commitment to improving animal welfare standards.

Meat: Origin Marking

Richard Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making it a requirement for businesses selling food for consumption outside of homes, for example restaurants and takeaways, to notify consumers of the country of origin meat products.

Mark Spencer: Food Information to Consumers Regulations apply to all food sold on the UK market, including imported food, and require many foods to declare the origin on the label. For food that is sold out of home, while origin information is not mandatory, it is unlawful to mislead consumers as to the origin of the food or any specific ingredient, and there are no barriers to British meat being labelled as British.

Water Supply: Drug Resistance

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of water sanitation on antibiotic resistance.

Rebecca Pow: The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA) have been working with the water industry to research the occurrence and transport of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics through wastewater treatment works as part of the industry funded Chemical Investigations Programme. The results were recently published by UK Water Industry Research (The National Chemical Investigations Programme 2020-2022 Volume 1 - Investigations into changes to Antimicrobial Resistance through wastewater and sludge treatment processes (ukwir.org)) and next steps are being considered.

Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to expand the Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021 to include (a) laptops, (b) smartphones and (c) other e-waste currently not included.

Rebecca Pow: There are no plans at present to expand the Ecodesign Regulations to include laptops and smartphones. However, in November 2021, the then Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published the Energy-related Products Policy Framework, which set out how the Government plans to push products to use less energy and reduce carbon emissions and other resources. This will help achieve Carbon Budgets 5 and 6 and to save consumers money on their energy bills. Defra will also publish a consultation reviewing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations this summer, which will seek views on potential policies to increase the resource efficiency, reuse and recycling of waste electricals.

Food: Labelling

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to take steps to extend food labelling regulations to smaller businesses.

Mark Spencer: All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules. Existing food labelling regulations provide the rules businesses must follow, setting out the mandatory labelling requirements for prepacked food, including information necessary to keep consumers safe and prevent misleading practices. Small businesses providing products locally may be exempt from a small number of non-safety related requirements. This includes the requirement to provide a nutrition declaration on prepacked foods.

Pigs: Animal Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings she has had with industry stakeholders on phasing out pig farrowing crates.

Mark Spencer: None.

Echinococcus Multilocularis

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of Echinococcus Multilocularis were reported in each year from 2011 to 2022.

Mark Spencer: From the 1st January 2021 to the 31st December 2022 there have been no cases of Echinococcus multilocularis detected in the UK fox population, based on annual, randomised, opportunistic testing for fox carcases to give a 95% confidence of detecting 1% prevalence.

Brucellosis: Dogs

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of Brucella Canis were reported between February 2022 and March 2023.

Mark Spencer: From 1st February 2022 to 31st March 2023 (inclusive) there have been a total of 75 cases (comprising a total of 104 positive dogs). We consider a case to be a single epidemiological event. Each event may involve 1 or more dogs. For example, many cases are just 1 dog (imported rescue dog) while another case may involve a breeder with a number of dogs where more than 1 dog is infected.

Nature Conservation

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect rare species.

Trudy Harrison: The Government remains committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species. In England, we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity: to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042; and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23), published 31 January 2023. The EIP23 revises the 25-Year Environment Plan as part of our obligations under the Environment Act 2021. We know that to meet our targets we will need large-scale habitat restoration, creation and improved connectivity; to tackle pressures on species including pollution, unsustainable use of resources and climate change; and targeted action to recover specific species. Measures introduced in the Environment Act, such as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), will help deliver actions to enable wildlife to recover and thrive. Additionally, our new Environmental Land Management schemes will pay for sustainable farming practices, creating and preserving habitat such as woodland, heathland and species-rich grassland, as well as making landscape-scale environmental changes, all of which could benefit our threatened native species. Additionally, Natural England's Species Recovery Programme (SRP) supports the recovery of threatened and declining species, such as lady’s slipper orchid, water vole, natterjack toad, wartbiter cricket, and curlew. On 3 April 2023, Natural England launched the Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme which will support projects over two years, delivering targeted conservation action through the creation and improvement of specific wildlife habitats, conservation translocations, as well as supporting research and creating solutions to address species decline.

Animals: Exports

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to end the export of live animals.

Mark Spencer: There have been no exports of livestock for slaughter or fattening since 2020. Exports of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats by sea to mainland Europe have not been viable since 1st January 2021, due to the lack of Border Control Post facilities designated to accept this trade in receiving EU Member States. Whilst exports of equines have continued, this has been for the purpose of leisure, competition or breeding only; none have been exported for slaughter.

Poultry: Animal Housing

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, from which organisations her Department has received representations on the use of cages for laying hens in the period since the publication of the policy paper entitled Action Plan for Animal Welfare on 12 May 2021.

Mark Spencer: We have received representations from a wide range of organisations on the use of cages for laying hens since publication of the Action Plan, including the British Egg Industry Council, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, the RSPCA, Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, The Humane League UK, Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS UK, Humane Society International UK, Animal Equality UK, UK Centre for Animal Law, Mahavir Trust, Animal Interfaith Alliance, Christian Vegetarian Association and Catholic Concern for Animals.

Lighting: Pollution

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made on the impact of light pollution on the environment in areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and surrounding areas.

Trudy Harrison: Our National Parks (NP) and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) have some of the best dark skies across Great Britain and attained some of the earliest dark sky designations in Europe. 53% of our darkest skies are in NPs and AONBs, demonstrating the vital role these places play, and seven of our NPs and AONBs have been internationally recognised for their dark skies and are managed in ways that conserve dark skies for the benefit of people and wildlife. Defra has worked with other government departments to ensure that the National Planning Policy Framework is clear that policies and decisions should limit the impact of light pollution on local amenities, dark landscapes and nature conservation. We continue to work with partners including leading scientists to review the latest studies and ensure we continue to address key threats to biodiversity.

Local Resilience Forums: Staff

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans that Chief Resilience Officers will be appointed to each local resilience forum; when she plans to publish details of anti-flooding and drought resilience plans; and if she will make a statement.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is committed, through its Resilience Framework, to working with the resilience sector to pilot the evolving nature of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) Chair role. This includes considering a full-time permanent role occupied by an appropriately qualified and experienced individual who will become the Chief Resilience Officer for each LRF area. With regards to local flood risk strategies and drought plans, these are developed by lead local flood authorities (unitary and county councils) and water companies respectively. Lead local flood authorities are required to have a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy which must include an assessment of local flood risk, objectives for managing local flood risk and measures proposed to meet these objectives. Water companies are required to have a drought plan, and to update it every five years, which states how it will maintain a secure water supply and protect the environment during dry weather and drought. These strategies and plans are developed in consultation with interested stakeholders and local communities. On 12 December 2022 the Environment Agency published online updated Flood Risk Management Plans to cover the period from 2021- 2027. These show how organisations, stakeholders and communities work together to manage flood risk in England.

Poultry: Animal Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent meetings she has had with industry stakeholders on the use of cages for laying hens.

Mark Spencer: None.

Water Abstraction: Licensing

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she bring forward legislative proposals to help ensure that a food risk assessment is made when changes to abstraction licences or restrictions are implemented to ensure that due regard is given to any potential impact on food security.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency has a duty to take into account the costs and benefits of its actions. The Environment Agency applies this duty, for example, when considering the need for irrigation restrictions. There is recognition of the devastating impacts that a total ban may have on the yield and quality of crops, so where restrictions are absolutely necessary the Environment Agency looks to introduce restrictions on a voluntary basis first, followed by partial restrictions (e.g., abstraction every other day, or night time only) and then total bans as a last resort. During the drought of 2022, the Environment Agency avoided the need for total irrigation bans by using this approach.

Poultry: Animal Housing

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of banning cages for laying hens.

Mark Spencer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 March 2023 to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn, PQ UIN 173051.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to correspondence of 19 December 2022 and 9 January, 20 February and 13 March 2023 from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay on a constituent with reference JB40073.

Mark Spencer: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member. The correspondence has been transferred to the Government Legal Department who will respond directly.

Poultry: Animal Housing

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the (a) proportion of egg production that will be cage-free by 2025 and (b) cost to the poultry sector of a ban on the use of cages for laying hens.

Mark Spencer: The proportion of eggs that come from caged hens has steadily decreased from 47% of total throughput in Q4 2017, to around 25% at the end of Q4 2022. No recent estimate of the proportion of egg production that will be cage-free by 2025 or the costs to industry of any ban on their use has been made.

Animals: Aviation

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with airlines on the transport of (a) dogs and (b) other animals by air.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review her Department's policy that pets travelling by air into the United Kingdom should be treated as cargo.

Rebecca Pow: We regularly review our pet travel guidance with stakeholders. We have no immediate plans to change the process by which pet cats, dogs and ferrets may enter GB by air.

Beef: Farmers

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to support beef farmers in (a) the North East and (b) North Yorkshire.

Mark Spencer: The Government has acted to support the agricultural sector, including beef farmers in the North-East and North Yorkshire, in a number of ways. During 2022 we took several actions to support farmers respond to the increase in input costs. These included: Changes to guidance on farmers using manures and steps aimed at bringing about more sustainable fertiliser technologies through the Sustainable Farming Incentive.Increased grants for farmers and growers and boosting research and development through the Farming Innovation Programme.The Basic Payment Scheme payment being made in two instalments to give farmers greater financial fluidity for the remainder of the agricultural transition period. Additionally in January 2023, I announced more money for farmers and landowners through both the Countryside Stewardship and the Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes, which will provide more support to the industry and drive uptake at a time of rising costs for farmers as a result of global challenges. I also confirmed an expanded range of actions under the schemes, which farmers could be paid for, would be published soon. We are working closely with the industry to identify where further mitigations are available to tackle the challenges they face. We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. We have also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real time intelligence. Support also continues to be available through the Farming Investment Fund. Launched in November 2021, it is helping farmers invest in the equipment, technology and infrastructure they need to drive their businesses forward. As of March 2023, £31.5 million worth of funding has been paid out to over 3,000 farmers. Finally, the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway is central to the Government’s manifesto commitment to protect and enhance farm animal health and welfare, and to maintain and build on our existing world-leading standards. This includes a programme of financial support for farmers in the pig, cattle, sheep, and poultry sectors to improve animal health and welfare. The Pathway offers livestock farmers an exciting opportunity to focus on the improvements they would like to make on their own farm.

Dogs: Animal Breeding

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 158888 on Dogs: Animal Breeding, how many local authorities have failed to provide their annual return detailing the number of dog breeding licences issued under their authority.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 158888 on Dogs: Animal Breeding, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of adherence of local authorities to mandatory reporting of licenced dog breeders in their annual returns.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 158888 on Dogs: Animal Breeding, which local authorities have failed to provide annual returns detailing the number of licenced dog breeders under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

Rebecca Pow: For the 2021-22 reporting period, my Department received returns from 233 local authorities in England, which represents a doubling of the response rate from the previous year. My Department asks all local authorities to complete their returns in full. The 2022-23 data return opened on 1st April and will run until 31st May. This year, my officials have used multiple platforms to remind local authorities of their obligation to provide their returns and of the benefits of doing so.

Honey: Labelling

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of labelling honey products with (a) country of origin, (b) percentage of honey from each country and (c) percentage of adulterated honey.

Mark Spencer: All honey on sale in England, regardless of where it comes from, must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015. The general requirement in regulation 17 of the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 is that honey cannot be sold in England unless the country of origin where the honey has been harvested is indicated on the label. However, for reasons of practicality special provisions apply to ‘blended’ honeys where honey producers can opt for alternative wording indicating that the honey is a blend from more than one country. The mix of different honeys in blended honeys may change frequently throughout the year, depending on availability, price, and seasonality of the various types of honey. Requiring producers to change their labels for every alteration would place additional burdens and lead to increased prices and packaging waste. Although the Government has no immediate plans to change the rules on honey labelling, we keep all laws under review as part of our commitment to carry out post implementation reviews. We will consider the need for further labelling measures as part of the next review of the honey regulations which is due by 2025. Honey should not be adulterated by any means, and the law states that nothing should be added or taken away. Adulterated honey is not permitted for sale under any circumstances.

Pigs: Animal Housing

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her department will (a) make an assessment of the potential merits of a ban on the use of farrowing crates and (b) hold a public consultation on such a ban.

Mark Spencer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 March 2023 to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn, PQ UIN 173051.

Deposit Return Schemes

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to expand the deposit return scheme for plastic and aluminium drinks containers to include glass drinks containers.

Rebecca Pow: UK Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland consulted in 2019 and 2021 on the detail of introducing a DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In January 2023 we published the government response to the 2021 consultation, setting out policy decisions and next steps for introducing the scheme (link here). As outlined in the government response, glass bottles will not be captured by DRS in England and Northern Ireland as the respective governments believe the addition of glass will add additional complexity and challenges to delivery of DRS in particular to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as additional consumer inconvenience. Given concerns raised on managing glass in a DRS, delivery of the scheme will focus on plastic bottles and aluminium/steel cans in England and Northern Ireland. Whilst not in-scope of the DRS in England and Northern Ireland, glass drinks bottles will be covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme in both nations, which will place targets on producers in relation to glass recycling. The proposed recycling target for glass packaging under EPR is 83% by 2030. Producers will also be responsible for the costs of managing glass packaging in household waste and disposed in street bins provided by local authorities. England and Northern Ireland welcome continued engagement with the glass sector on how glass recycling rates can be improved through kerbside collections.

Animal Housing

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any staff in her Department have full-time responsibility for policies on the use of cages for (a) laying hens and (b) other animals.

Mark Spencer: Defra has a small team responsible for developing and implementing farm animal welfare policies. This includes examining the use of cages/crates for different species.

Poultry: Animal Housing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to ban the use of cages for farmed hens.

Mark Spencer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 March 2023 to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn, PQ UIN 173051.

Animal Housing

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department are working on a consultation on the use of cages for (a) laying hens and (b) other animals.

Mark Spencer: Defra has a small team responsible for developing and implementing farm animal welfare policies and is currently examining the use of cages/crates for different species.

Fly-tipping

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding her Department has allocated to projects to help prevent fly-tipping in each of the last three financial years.

Rebecca Pow: In 2022, we provided 11 local authorities with total grant funding of almost £450,000 to purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping. In 2023, we followed this up with total grant funding of £775,000 to support 21 local authorities to tackle fly-tipping. These grant funds will help councils to purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping at known hot-spots. The projects funded include containers to support a ‘no bags on the street’ policy in Newham, beautification combined with anti-climb fencing in Hyndburn and the integration of CCTV and a digital fly-tipping education tool in Durham.

Packaging: Recycling

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the charges to be introduced by the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging will apply only to packaging that enters the consumer waste system.

Rebecca Pow: Under Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR), producers will pay for the waste management costs associated with the packaging that they place on the market that ends up in households or street bins managed by local authorities. Charges for the management of this waste will apply to all primary and shipment packaging except where producers can evidence that their packaging has been emptied and discarded by a business. This will ensure producers are thinking about the necessity of any packaging they use and the impact of that packaging once it ends up with the end consumer.

Sewage: Waste Disposal

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce sewage discharges in Somerton and Frome constituency.

Rebecca Pow: Last year, Government published the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, requiring water companies to deliver their largest ever infrastructure investment - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years. In February 2023, I asked water and sewerage companies to set an action plan on every storm overflow in England. I have also announced water companies will face higher penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce. In Frome and Somerton, the Environment Agency (EA) are scrutinising Wessex Water’s performance and asset management on a number of fronts, including:Working with Wessex Water to implement event duration monitoring to understand how often and for how long storm sewage overflows occur. This enables them to address their network performance and reduce spills.Continuing to take tough action where water companies cause sewage pollution of our watercourses by incidents, whether through failing assets or poor maintenance. The EA have a number of enforcement cases against Wessex Water pending. The EA also regulate private discharges from small-scale sewage treatment works in this rural catchment. They have a monitoring programme, and failures in discharge quality are subject to robust follow-up and, if appropriate, formal action to ensure improvements are made.

Smoking

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her policy to implement a ban on cigarette filter tips that contain plastic.

Rebecca Pow: Cigarette butts continue to be the most littered item according to a survey commissioned by Defra. On our behalf, WRAP have recently explored options for tackling littering of cigarette butts. We are now considering next steps.

Furs: Imports and Sales

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to prevent the (a) import and (b) sale of fur.

Mark Spencer: We have committed to explore potential action in relation to animal fur, as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare and have since conducted a Call for Evidence on the fur sector along with other forms of engagement with interested parties. We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade.

Slurry Infrastructure Grant

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of slurry stores that will receive funding from successful applications to the first round of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant.

Mark Spencer: Defra has allocated £33.9 million to the first round of the Slurry Infrastructure grants. In March 2023, the Rural Payments Agency invited 374 projects to submit a full application. We plan for most projects to complete the full application process and receive a grant.

Sewage: Pollution

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made on whether individual water companies can achieve targets set out the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan.

Rebecca Pow: The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan was launched in August 2022. Water companies are currently preparing their business plans as part of the planning cycle for 2025-2030 (PR24), setting out how they will achieve Government targets over the next five years. Government is committing to review the targets in the plan in 2027. This will allow us to establish if companies can go further and faster to achieve the storm overflow targets in this Plan without having a disproportionate impact on consumers bills.

Water Companies: Pay

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) Ofwat and (b) other regulatory bodies on linking the pay of senior water company executives and directors to performance.

Rebecca Pow: Government have been clear that companies must be transparent about aligning water company bonuses payment to delivery of services for customers, including environmental performance. We have had discussions with Ofwat on company performance, including the need to increase transparency. We are pleased that, in December 2022, Ofwat strengthened its powers on executive pay awards by setting out that shareholders, and not customers, will fund pay awards where companies do not demonstrate their decisions on pay awards reflects overall performance. We support Ofwat’s new guidance on the scope and implementation of this new measure, published in March 2023. This new measure will provide positive steps to protecting consumer interest and our environment.

Water Supply: Billing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate her Department has made on the average amount added to domestic water bills as a result of constructing new sewer systems.

Rebecca Pow: Water infrastructure is funded through customer bills. Every five years, Ofwat sets an overall cap on the total amount that each water company may recover from their customers, through a process called the Price Review. As part of this process Ofwat balances the interests of the consumers with the ability for companies to finance the delivery of its services, including the removal of sewerage from homes and its treatment. The current price review period runs from 2020-2025 and the level of investment in this period is £51 billion. The average household bill is £448 in 2023-24, of which £233 is spent on sewerage services, which includes building and maintaining sewer pipes, pumping sewage to treatment works, treatment, flowing cleaned and treated wastewater back into rivers and the sea and converting solid material from sewage into gas for energy.

Housing: Sewers

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what further steps she is taking to help tackle surface water flooding; what steps her Department is taking to prevent new developments being automatically connected to existing sewers instead of developers being required to install improved drainage systems to new developments; and if she will make a statement.

Rebecca Pow: Surface water flooding is localised and complex and is the responsibility of lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) to manage and mitigate. They do this in partnership with highways authorities and water companies. It is for LLFAs to determine the best approach to mitigating the risk. The Government is also taking action. In July 2021 we restated our commitment to ensuring surface water flood risk is tackled and published a progress update on our Surface Water Management Action Plan and our response to the independent review into surface water and drainage responsibilities. Progress is being made on these, with over 60% of actions already complete. The Government has reviewed making sustainable systems (SuDS) mandatory in new developments and the review was published on 10 January 2023. The Government accepted the review’s recommendation to mandate SuDS through implementing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. SuDS use features such as ponds, rain gardens and grass to absorb the rain and tanks and pipes to slow the flow to the sewer, reducing the risk of surface water and sewer flooding. Schedule 3 will also make the right to connect surface water to public sewers conditional on the drainage system being approved as meeting the mandatory sustainable drainage standards. This will help limit volumes entering drainage networks which will help ease the pressure on the sewerage system and mitigate flood risk. The Government is now considering how best to implement this in terms of scope, threshold, and process and there will be a public consultation later this year.

Sewage: Waste Disposal

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has plans to monitor the volume of storm overflow events.

Rebecca Pow: Using powers in the landmark Environment Act, we will significantly improve transparency by requiring companies to make discharge data available in near real time to the public and monitor water quality upstream and downstream of their assets. The Environment Agency has instructed water companies to install flow monitors at 2000 wastewater treatment works. These provide important data on the volume of treated final effluent discharges to the environment. Earlier this month, the Government launched our consultation on Continuous Water Quality Monitoring and Event Duration Monitoring. This outlines the Government’s proposals to enhance the monitoring of storm overflow and final effluent discharges.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Members: Correspondence

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the letter of 20 January 2023 from the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on the Art for All by All campaign.

Julia Lopez: A reply was issued on 20 April 2023.

Department for Transport

TransPennine Express Rail Franchise

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to end the TransPennine Express contract in May 2023.

Huw Merriman: Every week I review the figures and performance related to TransPennine Express. It has been said before that those figures are not good enough; there has been some improvement, but they are still not good enough. As the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State have informed the House, the contract expires on 28 May 2023. We have made clear that all options are on the table and a decision will be announced in the House shortly.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the emissions testing process for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA’s) Market Surveillance Unit conducts impartial testing of vehicle emissions on behalf of the Department for Transport. This includes testing plug-in hybrid vehicles in real-world conditions. Analysis of these results will also inform the Government’s view of future improvements to regulatory emissions tests.

Union Connectivity Review

Rob Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on implementing the recommendations of the Union Connectivity Review.

Mr Richard Holden: The Secretary of State for Transport, Department for Transport officials and I have regular discussions with colleagues across Government about Lord Hendy’s of Richmond Hill’s independent Union Connectivity Review. We are engaging with the devolved administrations and with other stakeholders to consider his recommendations and will publish our response as soon as is practicable. I also recently made visits across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to meet with key stakeholders and visit a wide variety of transport connectivity projects.

Railways: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the reliability of railway services through Shrewsbury.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) reliability of and (b) level of priority allocated to railway services running between (i) Wolverhampton and (ii) Shrewsbury.

Huw Merriman: Recent levels of reliability on railway services through Shrewsbury have not been acceptable due to a combination of train and infrastructure issues. Train issues have resulted from Transport for Wales (TfW) recently having to withdraw one of its fleets for safety checks, and from West Midlands Trains (WMT) introducing a new fleet on this route which (in common with all new fleets) is taking a while to reach the required levels of reliability. In addition, there has been an increase in infrastructure issues, some caused by cable theft, and Network Rail has deployed mitigating measures such as enhanced patrols as a result. The Department and West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) are closely working with WMT and officials from TfW on these issues. I am assured good progress has been made and improvements in services should be seen by passengers shortly.

Railways: Fares

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that rises in rail fares are affordable.

Huw Merriman: On 5 March regulated rail fares increased by 5.9 per cent, aligned to July 2022 average earnings growth. By aligning the increase to average earnings growth instead of July RPI of 12.3 per cent, we have more than halved the increase faced by passengers, while ensuring crucial investment into the rail network continues.

Electric Vehicles

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department provides to support the shift to electric vehicles.

Jesse Norman: Since 2010 the Government has spent over £2 billion to support the transition to zero emission vehicles. This funding has focused on reducing higher upfront cost of electric vehicles (EVs) and accelerating the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure. Following the success of the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund Pilot, a further £381 million has been made available over the next two financial years. This funding will support local authorities in England to work with the private sector to transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. This is in addition to funding available this financial year to local authorities across the UK under the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme. In addition, the Rapid Charging Fund will accelerate the rollout of high-powered chargers on the strategic road network. Plug-In vehicle Grants, which have been available since 2011, will be targeted where they have the most impact. This means until at least financial year 2023/24 for taxis and motorcycles, and 2024/25 for vans, trucks and wheelchair accessible vehicles. There are also tax incentives including zero road tax and favourable company car tax rates.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of public charging points for electric vehicles due to be installed in (a) Lewisham East constituency and (b) the London Borough of Lewisham in each reporting year until 2028.

Jesse Norman: The Government has not set targets for chargepoint provision per region or local area because the exact number and type of chargepoints will be highly dependent on local circumstances, future charging behaviour and the future development of electric vehicle technology. Local authorities have a key role to play as they are best placed to consider local needs. We will require all local transport authorities in England to develop their own chargepoint strategies, subject to consultation.   To date, the borough of Lewisham has been awarded £196,780 to deliver 53 chargepoints through the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many public charging points for electric vehicles there are in (a) Lewisham East constituency and (b) the London Borough of Lewisham.

Jesse Norman: Data on electric vehicle charging devices in the UK, held by the Department for Transport, are sourced from the electric vehicle charging platform Zap-Map. Charging devices not recorded on Zap-Map are not included and the true number of charging devices may be higher than recorded in these figures. The below table provides the data requested, as of 1 January 2023. ConstituencyLewisham EastLondon Borough of Lewishama.) Public charging devices (see note 1)68195   1) Zap-Map data counts charging devices publicly available at any given point, with decommissioned chargepoints removed from the data supplied to us. Therefore, the number of installed public chargepoints in each given year is likely to be higher as this accounts for the number decommissioned and removed from the data.

Aviation: Fuels

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on the construction of sustainable aviation fuel production plants by the five Advanced Fuels Fund competition winners.

Jesse Norman: The Department announced on 22 December 2022 that five sustainable aviation fuel projects would receive a share of the £165m Advanced Fuels Fund. The aim is to take as many of these as possible through to commercial scale production. Timelines differ between projects, but the funding is being used for feasibility studies; pre-front engineering and design; front end engineering and design; and parts of engineering, procurement and construction. The Department for Transport cannot comment on the progress of individual projects due to commercial sensitivity. The Department for Transport remains on track to achieve its wider aim of at least five commercial-scale SAF plants under construction in the UK by 2025. The Government launched the second round of the Advanced Fuels Fund on 30 March 2023.

Buses: Accidents

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on how many collisions involving buses have been caused by driver fatigue in each year since 2010.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department does not routinely collect information on the causes of collisions involving buses. The closest available information held in relation to road collisions are statistics on contributory factors. When police officers attend the scene of a collision, they are able to select up to 6 factors they believe contributed to the collision. These do not assign blame for the collision to any specific road user but gives an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the collision. The number of reported personal injury road collisions involving bus drivers which were assigned the “fatigue” contributory factor by an attending police officer in Great Britain from 2010 to 2021 (the latest year for which figures are available) can be found in the table below.  Collisions involving a bus driver who was assigned the "fatigue" contributory factor by an attending police officer, Great Britain, 2010 to 2021Source: DfT, STATS19YearCollisions20101120111320129201372014162015122016112017172018142019132020720215

Cars: Bolton South East

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 177749 on Travel: Greater Manchester, what estimate he has of the percentage of households that own a car in Bolton South East constituency.

Mr Richard Holden: According to Census data, 72% of households in Bolton South East constituency in 2021 had access to one or more cars or vans.

Elizabeth Line: Passengers

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of recent changes to the construction schedule for High Speed Rail 2 on passenger demand for Elizabeth Line services; and whether his Department plans to take steps to address potential changes in demand.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) Transport for London on managing pressure on Elizabeth Line services following recent changes to the construction schedule for High Speed Rail 2.

Huw Merriman: As has always been planned, Old Oak Common will act as HS2’s temporary London terminus prior to the opening of the High Speed station at Euston. We do not anticipate the rephasing of Euston to impact passenger demand at the point Old Oak Common services commence. My officials continue to work closely with Network Rail and Transport for London to understand future levels of passenger demand and capacity requirements both at Old Oak Common and throughout the wider transport network as HS2 services are introduced.

Railways: Infrastructure

Rob Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent on heavy rail infrastructure in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years up to and including the 2022-23 financial year.

Huw Merriman: Between 2018-19 and 2021-22, £46.7bn was invested on High Speed Two infrastructure; Network Rail Operations, Maintenance and Renewals; and the Rail Network Enhancements Portfolio. Figures are sourced from DfT and NR published accounts and Network Rail reporting is consolidated for England and Wales. By its nature, expenditure on the railway in any one particular part of the country is likely to also benefit passengers from outside that immediate area who use that railway. An annual breakdown is included in the table below: 2018-192019-202020-212021-2210.310.012.014.4 *Figures are in £billions, in nominal prices ** Rail Network Enhancements Portfolio figures do not include 3rd party-funded delivery *** 2022-23 outturn data is provisional and excluded

Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to reintroduce the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme.

Jesse Norman: The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) is now closed and has been replaced by the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant.

Driving Licences: Ukraine

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the period for which a Ukrainian may use a Ukrainian driving licence to drive in the UK.

Mr Richard Holden: I refer the member to the answer I gave on Wednesday 19th April. (UIN 179857).

Restoration and Renewal Client Board

Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, how much from the public purse has been spent on (a) building survey works and (b) ground investigation works for works associated with the restoration and renewal project as of 31 March 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: The R&R programme is carrying out tens of thousands of hours of complex building surveys and investigations to develop even more detailed records of the Palace of Westminster. These records are being used to inform design and planning, and future decisions on the essential restoration work required.Two of the intrusive surveys currently being undertaken, the Building Intrusive Survey and Pull Out Tests, are categorised as Building Survey Works. Third party contractor costs incurred to 31 March 2023 on these surveys are £0.3 million. Third party contractor costs incurred to 31 March 2023 on the ground investigation works are £0.6 million.These figures do not include Delivery Authority internal staffing costs or the costs of the contractor planning and overseeing the survey programme because those costs cannot be disaggregated by individual survey.All these surveys are ongoing and spend will continue beyond 1 April 2023.

Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance

Hywel Williams: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, what the estimated cost is of delivering Parliament’s restoration and renewal programme.

Sir Charles Walker: The Delivery Authority and Parliament's R&R Client Team have been working to the mandate set out in the resolutions of both Houses in July 2022 and the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019.In line with the mandate set by the Houses, the Delivery Authority is currently developing a wide range of options for the restoration and renewal work. These options will be considered by the R&R Programme Board and the R&R Client Board in the coming months.Both Houses will be asked to approve a way forward later this year and will receive high-level cost and schedule information to inform this decision.

Department for Work and Pensions

Food Banks

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the numbers of people using foodbanks.

Mims Davies: This Government is committed to understanding and addressing poverty which is why we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time. National statistics on food bank use for 2021/22 are available here. We aim to publish statistics for 2022/23 in March 2024. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22, 93% of individuals were food secure.

Children: Maintenance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any paying parents were placed on deduction of earnings orders incorrectly due to backlogs in the Child Maintenance Service linking payments to cases in the latest period for which data is available.

Mims Davies: Child Maintenance Service apply the Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO) process when a missed payment is identified. There is no data held identifying the number of occasions where an application of a DEO has been made in error due when a Paying Parent has in fact made a payment to the service but that payment has not been identified at the time of placing the DEO. To encourage contact and dialogue from Paying Parents when a missed payment is identified the Child Maintenance Service attempts to make contact with Paying Parents prior to considering a DEO. These include sending an automated SMS text message and a warning letter highlighting the missed payment to the Paying Parent. The warning letter explains the consequences of non-payment including enforcement action. If the Paying Parent does not make contact the Child Maintenance Service automatically search for a current employer link via the HM Revenue and Customs database. A call is then made to the employer to confirm the Paying Parent is still employed with them and payroll information is obtained. Once the DEO is issued Child Maintenance Service contact the employer once again to confirm safe receipt and to advise on how to implement the order. Throughout this period the Paying Parent has the opportunity to contact Child Maintenance Service to discuss the missed payment.

Carer's Allowance: Lewisham East

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people in receipt of Carer's Allowance in Lewisham East constituency.

Tom Pursglove: The most recent caseload statistics for Carer’s Allowance refer to August 2022 and are available on DWP Stat-Xplore. In August 2022, the Carer’s Allowance in payment caseload in Lewisham East constituency was 1,481 claimants. The link to access Stat-Xplore is https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance for using Stat-Xplore is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Statutory Sick Pay

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing qualifying days in the context of the eligibility criteria for Statutory Sick Pay.

Tom Pursglove: In the Health is Everyone’s Business consultation, the Government set out proposals for limited reforms to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), including consideration of the role qualifying days have. In response to the consultation (2021), the Government maintained that SSP provides an important link between the employee and employer but that this was not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system. The Government is continuing to keep the SSP system under review.

Disability: Government Assistance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 131286 on Disability: Government Assistance, what recent progress his Department has made on launching the consultation on the Disability Action Plan.

Tom Pursglove: We are planning to consult on the Disability Action Plan this summer and to publish the final plan once we have fully considered the consultation responses. This consultation in the summer will be an opportunity for everyone - disabled people, disabled people’s organisations, other interested parties - to have their say on the Disability Action Plan. It will be fully accessible to ensure that disabled people can take part. We will consider all responses to the consultation carefully before publishing the final Disability Action Plan.

Universal Credit

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of early salary payments paid via bank credits on working recipients of Universal Credit and their benefit assessment period and level of entitlement to UC payments.

Guy Opperman: No such assessment has been made.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit: Appeals

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claims for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits which are refused following medical assessment but are subsequently overturned at Tribunal are fully backdated and paid out in full to the claimant.

Tom Pursglove: All Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) claims overturned at Tribunal will be paid full arrears for the appropriate period in line with the Tribunal’s decision, unless the Tribunal’s decision is overturned in any subsequent appeal to the Upper Tribunal or a Higher Court. Information on appeals in the First-tier Tribunal, including IIDB appeals, is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. Specifically, information on the number of appeal receipts, disposals and outcomes of IIDB appeals, can be found in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) tables: SSCS_1, SSCS_2 and SSCS_3 of the Main Tables. The information requested on the proportion of IIDB claims which are refused following medical assessment, but are subsequently overturned at Tribunal that are fully backdated and paid out in full to the claimant, is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Elections: Proof of Identity

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the introduction of voter ID on adults living with disabilities.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with local councils to ensure that information on the requirements for voter ID is (a) accessible for people with disabilities and (b) available in Easy Read format.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people applied for a Voter Authority Certificate in England as of 1 April 2023; and how many and what proportion of these applications were rejected.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the take-up of voter authority certificates by (a) age group and (b) ethnic origin.

Dehenna Davison: I refer the Hon. Member to the response given to the Urgent Question on 21 February 2023 (Official Report, HC, Volume 728, Column 138), to Question UIN 165271 on 20 March 2023 and Question UIN 171447 on 31 March 2023.The Government published an Equality Impact Assessment of the Elections Act. This included consideration of the impact on people with protected characteristics.The Electoral Commission is responsible for the communications campaign to help voters understand the new requirement to present identification to vote. This has included work with civil society groups and other stakeholders, including organisations that represent disabled people.As is already publicly available, an easy read version of the application form for the Voter Authority Certificate is on gov.uk and from the Electoral Commission and easy read instructions are available to support people to apply online. The Government has also legislated to require that accessible information be sent with the Voter Authority Certificate to electors that request it, including in easy read.

Members: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to reply to the letter of 10 March 2023 from the Association of Town and City Management and Tesco Plc to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on Town Centre First Planning Policy.

Dehenna Davison: A response was issued on 19th April 2023.

Shared Ownership Schemes

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that (a) shared ownership schemes and (b) service charges in such schemes are affordable.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is clear that service charges should be based on the cost of providing services and that there must a clear route for redress if things go wrong. Shared ownership leases should specify what, if any, service charges are payable.

Leasehold Advisory Service

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) appointments made with and (b) calls made to the Leasehold Advisory Service.

Rachel Maclean: LEASE is a specialist advisory body funded by the Department to provide free information and advice to leaseholders and park homeowners in England and Wales, including on building safety issues. LEASE offers a comprehensive range of online resources, as well as a telephone and email enquiry service - with more than one million customers accessing its websites last year and responding to just over 28,000 individual telephone and written enquiries.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Electricity: Distribution

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many licenses OFGEM has awarded for companies to become Independent Distribution Network Operators.

Amanda Solloway: Ofgem has granted licences to 16 Independent Distribution Network Operators.

Electricity Generation

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of whether Ofgem’s proposed Inflexible Offers Licence Condition will prevent energy companies from cutting off electricity capacity in one plant and offering electricity from another plant at a higher cost; and what estimate he has made of how much revenue energy companies have potentially made via balancing payments in each of the last five years.

Amanda Solloway: There are many factors that have driven the rise in balancing costs over recent years, including an ongoing and growing need to take actions to maintain system security and high energy prices throughout the wholesale market which have increased the costs of these balancing actions.It is critical in all times that consumers pay a fair price for their energy. Ofgem have consulted on new rules to protect consumers from the high balancing costs witnessed in recent years and are working to introduce these new rules later this year. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the effectiveness of the proposals at this stage.Balancing costs over the last five years were:- £1.2bn in 2018/2019- £1.3bn in 2019/2020- £1.9bn in 2020/2021- £3.1bn in 2021/2022- £3.9bn in 2022/23 (note: incomplete as March 2023 data is not yet available) Source: National Grid ESO Monthly Balancing Services Summary data.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which solid fuel suppliers his Department consulted in the development of the Alternative Fuels Payment scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Government regularly engages with consumer groups, industry bodies, and other stakeholders, including fuel suppliers, and is working with them to spread the message to alternative fuel users. For example, fuel distributors have provided their customers with information about this scheme.

Treasury

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending Stamp Duty Reserve Tax legislation so that newly recognised growth markets are not required to be recognised stock exchanges.

Andrew Griffith: There are currently no plans to extend the recognised growth market exemption from Stamp Duty Reserve Tax to markets that are not part of a recognised stock exchange. However, the Government keeps all areas of the tax system under review.

Royal Mint: Non-fungible Tokens

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Treasury spent in total on the creation of a Royal Mint non-fungible token.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish his Department's rationale for instigating the development of a Royal Mint non-fungible token.

Andrew Griffith: The Royal Mint is not proceeding with the launch of an NFT at this time but will keep this proposal under review.The Royal Mint operates as a commercial business and any cost associated with developing the project was met entirely out of the Royal Mint’s own revenues. No taxpayer money has been directly used to fund the project.

Armed Forces: Workplace Pensions

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the private pension annual allowance from £40,000 to £60,000 for armed forces non-contributory pensions.

Andrew Griffith: At Spring Budget 2023, the Government announced that it would make changes to the limits on tax-relieved pension savings, abolishing the lifetime allowance, and increasing the annual allowance from £40,000 to £60,000. This will apply to all members of registered pension schemes, including those in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. These changes will help incentivise highly-skilled and experienced individuals from across the private and public sector, including in the Armed Forces, to remain in the labour market, which will help grow the economy and support the delivery of core public services.

Blackmore Bond: Insolvency

Feryal Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Financial Conduct Authority are taking to (i) investigate the collapse of Blackmore Bond plc and (ii) ensure consumer protections on related matters.

Andrew Griffith: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for ensuring consumer protection for a broad range of financial services products and HM Treasury works closely with the FCA to maintain a strong and safe financial system. The FCA does not have power to investigate a firm that is unauthorised and not carrying out any regulated activities. Blackmore Bond Plc was not authorised by the FCA and the sale of the ‘mini-bond’ product it offered was not an activity regulated by the FCA. Where problems fall outside the FCA’s statutory remit, they assist other agencies and regulators wherever they can. In the case of Blackmore Bond, the FCA passed relevant information to the City of London Police.

Economic Growth

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that newly recognised growth markets qualify for the growth market exemption.

Andrew Griffith: The conditions for qualifying as a recognised growth market for the purposes of the growth market exemption are set out in HMRC’s Stamp Taxes on Shares Manual at: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-taxes-shares-manual/stsm041290. I encourage any entity that may meet these conditions to apply for the status of a recognised growth market. The application process is set out in HMRC’s Stamp Taxes on Shares Manual at: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-taxes-shares-manual/stsm041320.

Digital Assets: Bank Services

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from UK-based digital asset firms regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority which have experienced difficulties in obtaining a bank account.

Andrew Griffith: The Government is committed to creating a regulatory environment in which firms can innovate, while crucially maintaining financial stability and clear regulatory standards so that people can use new technologies both reliably and safely. HM Treasury actively engages with the cryptoasset industry through a range of senior and ministerial groups. For example, the ministerial chaired cryptoasset engagement group has been convened four times and will continue to meet regularly over the course of 2023 to engage with key market participants. The decisions about what products are offered and to whom are commercial decisions for banks and building societies themselves. The Government recognises and values the important role of this sector and does not wish to see banks and building societies decline to service law abiding businesses, it would be inappropriate for the Government to intervene in these decisions.

Sanctions: Russia

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many licences the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has issued to individuals and companies connected with Russia since 24 August 2022.

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many licences granted by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation since 24 February 2022, in connection with the Russia regime, related to (a) covering expenses such as food, rent and medicines, referred to as basic needs, (b) reasonable professional legal fees or reasonable expenses associated with the provision of legal services, (c) prior obligations, if the obligation/contract started before the sanction was imposed, (d) covering the payment of fees/service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or economic resources, (e) pre-existing judicial decisions, (f) extraordinary expenses, where considered appropriate, (g) extraordinary situations, where considered appropriate and only for non-UN listed persons, (h) humanitarian assistance and (i) diplomatic missions.

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of licenses granted by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation relating to Russia since 24 February 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) publishes the number of financial sanctions licences issued in its Annual Review. Information about the total number of licences including the number of licences for each derogation that OFSI has granted for the last five financial years can be found in OFSI’s Annual Review documents, which are publicly available on OFSI’s website. OFSI will publish the latest figures in the next Annual Review in due course. OFSI does not publish details about individual licences granted, including source and quantum of funds licensed.

Hospitality Industry: Alcoholic Drinks

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department made an assessment of the average proportion contributed to the income of hospitality venues by (a) wines and (b) spirits when formulating plans for the draught relief introduced on 1 August 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Government consulted extensively and took account of evidence from a wide range of stakeholders and a variety of data sets as part of the tax policy making process on the alcohol review, including on the design of Draught Relief. The Government has committed to evaluating the policy and its impacts after implementation.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing measures to assist (a) producers and (b) importers supplying the off trade in alcoholic drinks following the increases in alcohol duty announced in the Spring Budget 2023.

James Cartlidge: The new alcohol duty system will provide a simpler and more consistent duty regime for producers and importers supplying the off trade and on trade. The Government is also introducing specific measures that will benefit produces and importers. The approval, return and payment processes for domestic producers of alcoholic products are being harmonised. Small Producer Relief reforms and extends the relief currently enjoyed by small breweries to all producers of other alcoholic products under 8.5% abv. Temporary arrangements for producers and importers of wine in place until 1 February 2025 will help them manage the transition to the new method of calculating the duty on their products. The Government has also committed to evaluating the policy and its impacts after implementation.

Wines: Excise Duties

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of planned wine duty increases on (a) elasticity of demand and (b) forecast levels of future revenue to the Exchequer from alcohol duty.

James Cartlidge: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook report in March 2023. The publication contained an alcohol duty revenue forecast up to and including 2027-28 and was inclusive of all planned changes to alcohol duties including wine duty increases. Table 2.12 in the supplementary tables published alongside the Economic and Fiscal Outlook report contains separate clearance and receipt forecasts by type of alcohol.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending small producer relief beyond 8.5 per cent for small English distilleries and vineyards; and if he will make a statement.

James Cartlidge: The Government discussed the design of the new Small Producer Relief with industry as part of the consultation process. Having considered the thresholds carefully, and the need to balance the needs of businesses with public health objectives, the Government felt it was right to extend the relief only to products below 8.5% alcohol by volume, to mirror existing schemes.

NHS: Pay

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequential arising from the pay settlement for NHS workers in England is.

John Glen: The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets. Discussions between HMT and DHSC on the funding implications, should a pay deal be agreed, are ongoing.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of recent alcohol duty changes on the competitiveness of the UK spirits industry.

James Cartlidge: The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the assessment of impacts from changes to the duty rates made at the Spring Budget 2023.